Hennepin County, Minnesota’s most populous county, will pay $3.4 million to settle a lawsuit that alleged jail workers ignored the pleas of a 41-year-old man who died of a perforated bowel after spending days begging to be taken to a hospital. Lucas Bellamy was arrested in July 2022 on charges of fleeing police in a suspected stolen vehicle and possession of brass knuckles. During jail intake, he said he had ingested a bag of drugs and was taken to Hennepin County Medical Center, the suit said. He was sent back to jail with instructions to return to the hospital if symptoms worsened. Bellamy’s death was among 15 at the jail since 2015, including eight during the previous two years.
The lawsuit was filed in January by the family of Lucas Bellamy, the son of St. Paul Penumbra Theatre founder Louis Bellamy. Lucas Bellamy died while in custody at the Hennepin County jail in Minneapolis in 2022, the Associated Press reports. The settlement is believed to be among the largest ever in connection with a jail death in Minnesota, the Minneapolis Star Tribune reported Monday. The Bellamy family's attorney, Jeff Storms, said the settlement is important “in terms of reflecting accountability and responsibly for the egregious loss of Lucas’ life.” The announced settlement came days after the state ordered the county to reduce its jail population by 239 inmates over concerns about staffing shortages and inadequate care.