CHARLESTON – The mother of a South Charleston man says city police officers allowed her son to chug some alcohol before being arrested before officers and Thomas Memorial staffers later allowed him to suffocate on his own vomit while having a heart and respiratory event.
Cheryl Fox, as administratrix of the estate of Wayne A. Dodson, filed her complaint December 23 in federal court against Thomas Memorial Hospital, registered nurse Kyle Lynne Fairchild, Dr. Andrew S. Morgan, the City of South Charleston, Sgt. Andrew Ferrebee, Sgt. A. Davis, Officer Jacob Poland and Officer B.C. Adkins.
diTrapano
Attorneys for the estate say the situation easily could have been avoided.
“The family of Wayne Dodson called the police out of concern for his mental health and to get help,” L. Dante diTrapano told The West Virginia Record. “Mr. Dotson needed immediate medical help for a serious mental health condition, instead, the officers actually allowed him to consume alcohol and become intoxicated despite knowing the concern for his mental health and took him to jail instead of calling for paramedics or taking him directly to a hospital.
Forbes
“Finally, when the jail refused to accept him in his condition they took him to the hospital where he received, as the complaint alleges, virtually no care. Then, as alleged, the South Charleston officers stood by as he was cuffed to a bed unable to move while he aspirated and choked to death.”
Attorney Jesse Forbes agreed.
“Based on the allegations in the complaint, had these officers used basic common sense, and had the hospital done its job, this young man would be spending Christmas with his family,” Forbes told The Record. “Instead, they are left with the dreadful reality of loss and the regret of ever having these officers respond to their house when they desperately needed help.”
According to the complaint, South Charleston Police officers were dispatched to Dodson’s home on February 24, 2024, for a safety check after receiving a call that he might be suicidal. Two officers arrived and told Dodson there was an outstanding warrant. They allowed him to make arrangements with his mother to come to get his two minor daughters before he was arrested. Dodson asked if he could turn himself in the following Monday after his daughters went back to their mother, and he expressed severe anxiety about going to jail.
Several other officers arrived at the home, including Ferrebee and Davis, who arrested Dodson after Fox and the daughters left the home.
“Ferrebee’s body camera video shows that Mr. Dodson stood in front of his refrigerator drinking alcohol while defendant Davis told Mr. Dodson that the officers had no problem with him chugging the alcohol,” the complaint states. “Defendant Davis stated, ‘You going to chase it with a Diet Coke real quick?’
“The body camera video shows that Mr. Dodson staggered as he attempted to walk down the steps of his home; that defendant Ferrebee told defendant Davis that he thought that Mr. Dodson took something; and that defendant Davis responded that defendant Ferrebee should get Mr. Dodson to the jail and not worry about his obvious intoxication.”
Dodson was transported to South Central Regional Jail “so severely intoxicated” the jail refused to accept custody without medical clearance from the hospital, according to the complaint. Dodson then was taken to Thomas Memorial Hospital.
Morgan was the emergency room treating physician. He noted Dodson was awake and interactive, voicing no complaints other than wanting to sleep.
“The notes of Dr. Morgan are inconsistent with nurse’s notes indicating that Mr. Dodson could not provide medical history and that vitals could not be obtained due to the severity of Mr. Dodson’s intoxication,” the complaint states. “Dr. Morgan’s medical decision-making narrative states that Mr. Dodson’s alcohol level was ‘374.’
“However, Dr. Morgan provided no medical care to address Mr. Dodson’s extreme level of intoxication other than to have his handcuffs removed long enough to raise him up in the bed and elevate his head. Dr. Morgan discharged Mr. Dodson to law enforcement stating that he left in awakened stable condition.”
Fairchild documented that Dodson presented for medical clearance and noted Dodson had periods of outbursts and incoherence, according to the complaint.
Despite his discharge, Dodson remained at the hospital for several hours handcuffed to his bedrails. Fairchild reported Dodson was discharged and turned over to law enforcement at 6:25 p.m.
“Law enforcement stated they are trying to decide how to move pt. into police car,” Fairchild noted. Poland and Adkins were in Dodson’s room.
Sometime between 6:25 p.m. and 7:23 p.m., Dodson vomited and suffered an aspiration event. SCPD Officer Dawson arrived then, and the complaint says his bodycam footage shows Poland “sitting in a chair outside Mr. Dodson’s room facing away from Mr. Dodson and looking at his cellphone. Defendant Officer Adkins is observed standing in the doorway of Mr. Dodson’s room looking at Mr. Dodson.”
“Defendants Adkins and Poland did not notify medical staff that Mr. Dodson had vomited and appeared to be gasping for breath,” the complaint states. “The Dawson body camera video shows that Officer Dawson took a few steps into the room and observed vomit on Mr. Dodson’s face. Officer Dawson returned to the hallway and called for Defendant Nurse Fairchild’s attention.”
The bodycam footage shows Fairchild failed to promptly address Dodson’s situation, according to the complaint. Fairchild entered Dodson’s room three minutes later, and the footage shows Dodson had labored breathing.
“Despite obvious signs that Mr. Dodson was having a respiratory emergency, body camera video shows that Nurse Fairchild took her time wiping Mr. Dodson’s face, wiped the nasal tube, replaced the nasal tube on Mr. Dodson’s face, and stood in the room watching Mr. Dodson gasping for breath,” the complaint states. “Nurse Fairchild did not call for help when it was obvious that Mr. Dodson was in respiratory distress.
“Instead, Officer Dawson, who appeared to be getting frustrated with Defendant’s Fairchild’s lack of response to Mr. Dawson’s distress, went into the hallway and shouted for three other nurses who stood at the end of the hall to come to assist with Mr. Dodson.”
Dodson was unresponsive, and hospital staff moved him to another room for resuscitation. Medical records show Dodson was handcuffed to the bed by law enforcement on both wrists and that his limbs were blue and hypoxic.
Dodson was admitted to the ICU after he had aspirated. Dr. William Wade diagnosed him with cardiac arrest, acute respiratory failure with hypoxia, septic shock, lactic acidosis, acute renal failure, liver shock and alcohol intoxication.
Dodson remained on life support until he died on March 4, 2024.
The estate accuses Morgan and Fairchild with medical malpractice and negligence; Thomas Hospital with medical negligence; Ferrebee, Davis, Poland and Adkins with deliberate indifference of medical needs and failure to protect; and the City of South Charleston with negligence, deliberate indifference, failure to protect, negligent training, negligent supervision, negligent retention and violating Dodson’s Fourteenth Amendment rights.
In its Monell claim against the city, the complaint notes the city has “a pattern and practice of customs and policies that were inadequate and reckless in several aspects.”
In a 2020 case, a Loudendale man said two South Charleston police officers used excessive force on him after a traffic accident, leaving him paralyzed from the waist down. The case settled for $2.45 million in 2021.
“In the Billy Means case, the history of issues in the South Charleston Police Department were detailed and the hope was that there would be change that would help save lives,” Forbes said. “Unfortunately, as alleged here, there was nothing done to protect Wayne Dodson and he gasped for breath in his final moments handcuffed to a bed mere feet from the officers sworn to protect him and serve his family.
“The polar star of hope in all such cases is that through these actions there is an overall change and agencies learn from the alleged conduct so that no one else is forced to spend another holiday without their loved ones.”
DiTrapano agreed.
“While this is an unfathomable tragedy for this family, sadly, it’s not the first time the South Charleston Police Department has been involved in civil rights claims,” he said. “You only have to look to the Billy Means case, where the allegations were that the Chief of Police himself actually had officers remove cameras from their cars, to question why things, as alleged, haven’t changed.”
Dodson’s estate seeks joint and several general damages for all past and future physical pain, past and future medical bills, mental suffering, emotional distress, trauma, conscious pain and suffering, loss of future earning capacity, mental anguish as well as past and future pain and suffering. It also seeks compensatory damages for economic losses and expenses, pain and suffering as well as loss of enjoyment of life. It also seeks punitive damages, pre- and post-judgment interests, court costs, attorney fees and other relief.
The estate is being represented by diTrapano, Amanda J. Davis and Charles F. Bellomy of Calwell Luce diTrapano in Charleston and by Forbes and Jennifer N. Taylor of Forbes Law Offices in Charleston.
U.S. District Court for the Southern District of West Virginia case number 2:25-cv-00752
