National Roundup

Virginia
Man charged for ­hitting himself with his car
ALEXANDRIA, Va. (AP) — A northern Virginia man is facing charges including driving while intoxicated and possessing marijuana after a police pursuit in which he ended up running over himself.

Fairfax County Police released dashboard video from Tuesday’s incident showing 30-year-old Isaac Bonsu getting out of his car on a residential street in the Alexandria section, a Washington suburb. But Bonsu apparently forgot to put the car in park and the video shows him running in front of the car and being struck.

Bonsu gets up and continues running. Police say they caught him, unharmed, after a brief foot chase.

Police say they initially pulled Bonsu over Sunday for an apparent equipment violation.

Charges against Bonsu include a third-time DWI, felony hit-and-run and illegal window tint.

Court records don’t list an attorney for Bonsu.

Arizona
$7M settlement approved in man’s death at jail run by Arpaio
PHOENIX (AP) — Maricopa County officials voted Wednesday to pay $7 million to settle a lawsuit over the 2011 death of a mentally ill man in a jail run by then-Sheriff Joe Arpaio.

The settlement resolves claims against Arpaio and his jail officers in Ernest Atencio’s death.

Phoenix police, who arrested Atencio on a misdemeanor assault charge and were involved in his booking at the jail, remain as a target of the lawsuit.

The lawsuit says Atencio died after officers beat him and shot him with a stun gun.

The officers who arrested Atencio had concluded his erratic behavior before being brought to jail was due to mental illness, not intoxication.

Excluding the $7 million settlement, Maricopa County has paid $33 million in jail-related legal claims filed during Arpaio’s 24 years as sheriff.

Tennessee
Judge recuses himself from school rape ­lawsuits
CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. (AP) — A federal judge has recused himself from two rape lawsuits against a Tennessee high school, citing a law that deals with impartiality.

The cases allege the Hamilton County Board of Education failed to protect students on an Ooltewah High School basketball trip in 2015 when one freshman was raped with a pool cue and three others were attacked by teammates.

The Chattanooga Times Free Press reports U.S. District Judge Travis McDonough didn’t explain his removal Monday after more than a year into court proceedings. The students filed the lawsuits in September and December 2016, and McDonough has been on the case since then.

McDonough declined the newspaper’s request for comment Tuesday.

Judge Harry “Sandy” Mattice is now on the case. The trial is set for September.

Nevada
Family of dead Henderson judge suing doctor in fentanyl case
LAS VEGAS (AP) — The ex-husband and children of a Henderson city judge who died last year with the powerful opioid fentanyl in her system have filed a wrongful death lawsuit against a doctor accused in another case of illegally distributing the drug.

The lawsuit against Dr. Steven Holper was filed Feb. 27 in Nevada state court by Diana Hampton’s ex-husband, Henderson police Lt. Scott Hampton, and her two children, ages 14 and 12.

A message left Wednesday at Holper’s medical office was not immediately returned.

Holper was arrested last month on federal charges of unlawful distribution of fentanyl and providing a false statement about a health benefit program.

The Clark County coroner ruled in April 2016 that Diana Hampton died of severe sepsis following an arm infection, and that fentanyl in her system contributed to her death.

The Las Vegas Review-Journal reports the wrongful death case alleges that Holper improperly provided Hampton with the painkiller.

Colorado
Judge: Man accused of killing boy with ax is not competent
BROOMFIELD, Colo. (AP) — A Colorado judge has ruled that a man accused of using an ax to kill his four-year-old nephew is not competent to stand trial for murder.

Broomfield County District Judge Michael Goodbee’s ruling puts the criminal charges on hold until Emanuel Doll is ruled competent.

Doll is due back in court on March 19 to review his status. The 26-year-old will be held at the Colorado Mental Health Institute in Pueblo.

A statement released Wednesday by the Broomfield County district attorney’s office says Goodbee made his written ruling on Sunday, based on a competency hearing held last month.

Police have said that Doll’s parents found their young grandson dead in their basement in April. Doll was arrested after police found him wearing bloody clothes in the home’s backyard.

California
Los Angeles County to pay nearly $6M in jail inmate lawsuit
LOS ANGELES (AP) — Los Angeles County officials voted Tuesday to pay nearly $6 million to settle a lawsuit that claimed a jail inmate was left brain damaged and disabled because his medical problems weren’t properly treated.
The negligence suit was filed on behalf of Juan Garza, who was 22 when he was arrested in 2012 on suspicion of attempted murder of a stranger.

He’d been diagnosed years earlier with schizophrenia but hadn’t received any medication.

Supervisors were told that while in the downtown Los Angeles Twin Towers jail, Garza tried to kill himself by repeating falling backward and hitting his head on the floor, City News Service reported.

The lawsuit says a social worker evaluated him but saw no signs of a medical emergency. However, within hours his condition became life-threatening.

His attorneys said he suffered a seizure and brain swelling, leaving him with permanent brain damage and requiring 24-hour care.

The Board of Supervisors approved a $5.9 million settlement Tuesday.

Safety check policies in the jail have since been revised and additional cameras have been installed to keep watch on inmates.

Garza had been charged with attempted murder after allegedly attacking a 54-year-old woman with a crowbar.

A database maintained by the state’s Department of Mental Health showed a 2009 diagnosis of schizophrenia, “but with no follow-up or medications,” according to a summary submitted to the board.