Cass County Jail (KVRR)
FARGO (KFGO) – The family of a man who bled to death in a cell at the Cass County Jail two years ago has filed a wrongful death suit in federal court against Essentia Health, Cass County, Sheriff Jesse Jahner and individual employees of the hospital and county who the family says deprived Luke Laducer of the medical care that could have saved his life.
Laducer’s parents and children, three of whom are still minors, allege in the suit that his First and 14th Amendment rights to Due Process were violated on December 18, 2020, after the 41-year-old Army veteran called 911 in the early morning hours and told police he was suicidal.
Laducer was brought by Fargo Police to Essentia prior to being booked in the Cass County Jail due to an outstanding warrant. The family’s suit says hospital staff did not check Laducer’s vital signs or conduct any mental health screenings before clearing him to be booked into the jail. The suit alleges if they had, it would have been clear that Laducer was hemorrhaging and in serious medical distress and needed to be admitted for treatment.
The family claims jail staff similarly denied care to Laducer, leaving him to bleed to death in his cell hours later.
“This is something that did not have to happen and was avoidable,” said Jeff Price, an attorney representing the family. “Essentia Health and county policies, practices, and customs likely led to this very unfortunate and tragic result.”
Price said the family has been stonewalled as they’ve tried to determine what happened.
“The family has, for years, been planning to get justice in this case,” Price said. “There was a delay because the failure of the state to provide unredacted reports, even to the family.”
The case was filed December 2 in U.S. District Court. Judge Peter Welte has been assigned the case but no hearings have been scheduled.
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