Jason Pickles (Florida Department of Corrections).
A Florida man is suing the Polk County Sheriff’s Office claiming jail guards and medical staff failed to treat his gunshot wound which nearly led to his death.
Jason L. Pickles, 45, filed the lawsuit last month in the U.S. Middle District of Florida. He initially submitted the lawsuit pro se — representing himself — in May, but a judge appointed him attorneys who filed an amended complaint on his behalf. Pickles is currently serving a five-year prison term in the Florida Department of Corrections for driving his car at Winter Haven police officers on Nov. 10, 2022, when they were trying to arrest him for domestic battery by strangulation.
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According to the lawsuit, a cop shot six rounds at Pickles “from behind.” A bullet entered his left buttock, went through his thigh and lodged in his left knee. First responders took him to the Lakeland Regional Health Medical Center where he received treatment for more than four hours. After his release, he was taken to the Polk County Sheriff’s Office to be interviewed.
During the interview, Pickles “became incoherent, fell asleep, and slumped over in his chair,” the lawsuit said. His lawyers alleged the detectives never called medical officials to treat his injuries.
“These actions were deliberate and were designed to deprive Mr. Pickles from receiving needed medical care,” the lawsuit said.
Deputies then transported Pickles to the medical dorm at the Polk County Jail where his condition allegedly worsened. Jail guards and YesCare, the company Polk County contracts with to provide medical services to inmates, “ignored Mr. Pickles’ repeated pleas for medical attention,” his lawyers Jason Metha and Heather Lee of Foley & Lardner LLP wrote.
When Pickles told jail guards he was in “excruciating pain and there was a .45-caliber bullet in his knee,” the jail guards “collectively, callously and indifferently ignored Mr. Pickles’ request for medical treatment,” the lawsuit said. The strongest medicine they gave him was ibuprofen. His wound was not dressed nor was he given antibiotics, according to his lawyers. Instead, he was placed in self-harm observation and outfitted with a smock, which is designed for inmates on suicide watch. Soon the wound became infected, they wrote.
“Brown-tinted, bloody puss continuously dripped from his gunshot wound, leaving puddles on the floor of his cell and soaking his smock. A layer of dried puss formed on his leg and right arm. The scent of Mr. Pickles’ infected wound caused verbal complaints by other incarcerated individuals,” Metha and Lee wrote.
The infection allegedly spread down to his legs and to his right hand, which became extremely swollen and leaked pus. A jail guard sprayed Pickles with a “disinfectant” every day but that just made the wound sting and leak more, the suit alleged. Despite an order from a judge, Pickles did not receive the necessary medical care for several more weeks which put him “on the brink of death,” Metha and Lee wrote. In December 2022 he was rushed to Winter Haven Hospital. He was reportedly admitted to the hospital, given painkillers and antibiotics and scheduled for emergency surgery, according to his lawyers.
“The Winter Haven Hospital personnel were horrified and shocked at the extent of Mr. Pickles’ infection, which had spread to his heart and bloodstream,” the suit stated. “As a result of Defendants’ brazen and intentional disregard for Mr. Pickles’ serious and obvious medical needs, Mr. Pickles developed a life-threatening infection, necessitating two lengthy and painful surgeries to treat the infected wound.”
Per the suit, the first surgery lasted three hours and required several large incisions to remove all the pus and dead tissue. The second surgery removed the bullet from his knee. Pickles also is suing Lakeland Regional, claiming the bullet should have removed from his knee during his initial visit to the hospital.
Pickles was discharged from the hospital and returned to the jail where he was allegedly stripped nude and shackled to bed, “restricting blood flow and all movement and thus causing more pain and discomfort as he healed from the invasive surgeries.” He laid there for three days, plaintiff lawyers alleged.
The lawsuit is claiming the jail and YesCare violated his due process rights. He also accuses jail employees of retaliating against him when he complained about the lack of care.
In a statement to Law&Crime, Polk County Sheriff’s Office spokesman Scott Wilder said Pickles has “a long history of violence and lawlessness” and has been arrested 16 times in the county and spent eight different stints in the FDOC.
“Because of his violent behavior, he was shot by law enforcement officers and he has subsequently received free medical care at taxpayers’ expense. And now he has filed a frivolous lawsuit complaining about all the medical care he has received. His lawsuit is without merit,” Wilder said.
According to his FDOC inmate profile, Pickles is under “disciplinary confinement” and is unable to have regular visitors.
Lakeland Regional and YesCare did not immediately respond to an email seeking comment.
“When individuals are incarcerated, we as a society expect prison custodians will provide adequate medical needs. That did not occur here,” Metha and Lee said in a statement to the Tampa Bay Times. The firm did not immediately return an email seeking comment.
