A man who alleges his thumb was severed after San Diego Central Jail deputies closed a metal door on his hand is suing the county, San Diego Sheriff Kelly Martinez and the deputies involved.
Mauricio Bernal alleges the injury happened while he was an inmate at the downtown jail in July of 2023, and in court papers argues a violation of his Eighth Amendment rights, which guarantee protections against cruel and unusual punishment; and also maintains his Fourth Amendment rights were violated when excessive force was used; as well violations of his civil rights.
According to the lawsuit filed Wednesday in San Diego federal court, Bernal and other inmates were ordered to line up against a wall to be patted down. Bernal was allegedly told to stand past an area marked by a red line showing where it is safe for inmates to stand.
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"Despite this clear red line, DOES 1 – 5 forcefully and aggressively directed plaintiff to the location where plaintiff was to stand, past the red line, and plaintiff complied," the suit alleges.
While he stood there waiting, an unnamed deputy or deputies shut a metal sliding door on his right hand, "amputating his thumb and permanently injuring his index finger," the complaint alleges.
NBC 7 asked the San Diego Sheriff's Department for a comment on the suit on Thursday and received the following statement: "Since this is an active litigation, we cannot comment at this time."
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Immediately after the incident, Bernal alleges deputies "mocked" him and told him, "It's not so bad," and allegedly "failed to address his cries for help."
Bernal also alleges that the deputies prevented him from going to the infirmary for after-care for his injury and "refused to give plaintiff any other medical documents or updates regarding plaintiff’s medical condition or the needed care for his fingers."
A couple of days after the incident, he was ordered to work by taking out trash "in conscious disregard of the open and exposed wound on plaintiff's severed thumb" and for the remainder of his time in jail, deputies allegedly taunted him by giving him a thumbs up, the complaint states.
Furthermore, Bernal alleges in the court papers, the defendants in the case used a marker to draw his severed digit on the sliding door that had amputated his thumb.
The court papers also accuse the defendants of continuing — as soon as the following day — "to order inmates to line up at the exact spot where plaintiff’s thumb was amputated, even past the clearly delineated red line."
Bernal has asked for general damages; special damages, including past and future medical expenses, incidental expenses, future lost wages and future lost earning capacity; as well as punitive damages.
