Tue, Nov 7th, 2023 - 9:46am
November 10, 2023 - 5:16am | By Ty Schonert
(Cas County, ND) -- The Cass County Sheriff's Office is responding after a post on the "Insanity of Fargo/Moorhead" Facebook group gained traction, claiming a person in mental distress was being neglected at the county jail.
The claim was posted by an anonymous person in the Facebook group, who said the woman arrived at a nearby Sanford Health hospital with marks over her body, bleeding on the brain, and kidneys that were shutting down. The post said the woman "struggled with mental health issues."
The Sheriff's Office responded after seeing the social media post, saying the unidentified woman was booked in the jail on October 11th for detox when she kicked officers multiple times, and was arrested for Simple Assault on a Peace Officer. She was placed under suicide precautions in a padded cell, and was unable to be transferred to the state hospital in Jamestown due to capacity issues. Authorities say her condition worsened to the point of needing transfer to Sanford Health on November 7th, along with all relevant documentation associated with her stay at the jail. Upon her transfer to Sanford, the Cass County State's Attorney dismissed the Simple Assault charge against the woman.
"On November 7th, hospital staff filed a mandated report with ND Adult Protection Services, who subsequently notified the ND Dept of Corrections and Rehabilitation (ND DOCR)," said the Sheriff's Office in a statement, "ND DOCR has initiated an investigation and has been provided all relevant documents, which include the arrest reports, all mental health records, all medical records, all jail incident reports, all logs related to 15-minute suicide watch observations, and all communications between the various entities."
At this time, authorities say they cannot release identifying information about the woman due to medical privacy laws. This includes video surveillance from inside the woman's padded cell.
The Sheriff's Office says they will collaborate with any investigations.
