Family of jailed Dakota County man who had fatal stroke sues, alleging ‘callous indifference’

The family of a man who suffered a fatal stroke alleges in a lawsuit that police officers and staff at the Dakota County jail failed to properly respond for more than 5½ hours while he became increasingly and obviously ill while in custody before he died days later.

Kingsley Fifi Bimpong, 50, of Cottage Grove, was taken to the jail in Hastings in November 2024, on suspicion of driving in Eagan while under the influence of drugs or alcohol before he died in a St. Paul hospital.

The wrongful-death suit filed Thursday in U.S. District Court disclosed that after Bimpong suffered a stroke that police and correctional officers did not take his dire condition seriously despite obvious signs that he needed urgent medical attention.

Listed as defendants are three Eagan police officers, eight jail correctional officers and Dakota County.

”The police and correctional officers acted on incorrect and unfounded assumptions about Kingsley as justification for treating a person suffering from classic stroke symptoms with callous indifference that resulted in his death," Katie Bennett, attorney for Bimpong’s next of kin, said in a statement. “[This] shocking deliberate indifference from local authorities stripped Kingsley of his last safeguard: the right to basic medical care.”

The family is seeking a monetary judgment of $120 million in compensatory and punitive damages on behalf of Rosalind Marie Lewis, the mother of Bimpong’s minor child, and Josephine Adu-Gyane, a cousin of Bimpong’s.

The Minnesota Star Tribune has reached out to the Dakota County Attorney’s Office and the Eagan Police Department for a response to the allegations.

Hruby said a police officer saw Bimpong driving the wrong way and erratically before he was pulled over.

“Mr. Bimpong exhibited signs of drug intoxication, including unsteady gait, confusion, and a thousand-yard stare,” the attorney said. “Mr. Bimpong was asked, and denied, having any medical conditions that could explain his behavior. Due to his apparent intoxication, Mr. Bimpong was arrested on suspicion of driving while intoxicated and, after spending 17 minutes in the presence of EMS professionals, was transported to Dakota County jail.”

It would be hours after Bimpong was brought to the jail that he suffered a stroke, the attorney noted.

“While Mr. Bimpong’s death is tragic, he was not exhibiting an objectively serious medical condition that was obvious to lay persons at the time he was in the Eagan officers’ custody and there [was] no indication that he required emergent medical treatment.”

Dakota County spokeswoman Mary Beth Schubert said she “cannot comment further due to pending litigation.”

On Nov. 16, Bimpong left work as a U.S. Postal Service employee early with a headache and was stopped by an Eagan police officer for a traffic violation. While showing “obvious signs of a serious medical problem,” Bimpong could not understand simple directions nor provide his name, where he was going, or where he lived.

A police drug recognition expert was called to the scene to determine whether Bimpong was under the influence of drugs or alcohol, but Bimpong could not complete the evaluation.

The officers decided it “would just be a whole bunch of time wasted” and went ahead and took him to the Eagan Police Department to have his blood drawn for further testing of impairment, even though Bimpong had no criminal record. There also was no evidence at the scene of drug or alcohol use.

Bimpong’s condition worsened while at the Police Department as he showed obvious symptoms of a stroke. Emergency medical personnel arrived solely to collect a blood sample. The officers decided not to take Bimpong to a hospital because that would require one of them to wait with him there. Instead, they took him to the jail.

Bimpong struggled to walk through the police station and get in the squad car.

Bimpong arrived at the jail around 1:09 a.m. Nov. 17, 2024. An officer reported he was there with “one adult male, no issues.”

Bimpong had difficulty exiting the squad car and then staggered around the jail entry. His right foot at times dragged behind his body. Now Bimpong was showing many signs of a stroke: one-sided weakness, loss of coordination, a sudden severe headache, vision difficulties and confusion.

In the jail intake area, Bimpong could not hold himself upright, requiring support on both sides. Jail video showed him failing to control his bladder as he rolled around in pain for the next 1½ hours.

Correctional officers continued their “well-being” checks at various times, while Bimpong’s suffering and deterioration continued, without alerting medical personnel.

One officer documented later that she noticed Bimpong was foaming at the mouth and having seizure-like symptoms.

At this point, Narcan was administered three times without effect, indicating Bimpong was not under the influence of drugs. Eventually emergency medical personnel were called, and Bimpong was handcuffed and shackled onto a gurney for transfer to the hospital.

At a hospital in Hastings, it was determined that Bimpong required a higher level of care and he was transferred to United Hospital in St. Paul.