Sheriff demands help for mentally ill inmates after man dies in jail
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POCATELLO — Bannock County Sheriff Lorin Nielsen believes a local man may not have died if he had proper mental health treatment — something Nielsen said his jail is not equipped to provide.
Lance Allen Quick was arrested Dec. 8 and booked into the Bannock County Jail on a misdemeanor DUI charge. Quick apparently had a documented history of mental illness.
On Dec. 15, one week after being booked, Quick died of a heart attack just prior to being transported to State Hospital South for mental health treatment.
“He was too incoherent to be able to face arraignment. We had several calls to the Department of Health and Welfare to find a bed for him (in State Hospital South),” Nielsen said during a press conference Monday. “He was found incompetent and a danger to himself or others.”
Nielsen said Quick went into cardiac arrest while paperwork was being prepared for his transfer to the state hospital. Jail staff attempted CPR, and Quick was rushed to Portneuf Medical Center where he died. His death is now being investigated by the Tricounty Sheriff’s Association.
“Enough is enough. We’ve had a death in our jail. What else is it going to going to take to be able to get (mentally ill) people taken care of properly?” Nielsen said.
Nielsen said it’s common for people with mental illnesses to have misdemeanor charges against them. He said those charges are just a means to hold them in jail and keep them off the streets.
“It is not against the law to be mentally ill. But there are things that can be done to assist those that cannot assist themselves,” Nielsen said. “I, meaning representing the sheriffs, have more people in the Department of Correction and in the jails than the state does in state hospitals. And that should be an alarm.”
He said his office is not equipped or trained to properly care for those suffering from mental illnesses. He said it is the state’s responsibility to care for them.