Ellis George filed a lawsuit on behalf of two federal detainees who were locked in a police van while suffering oppressive heat for several hours following their April 8th hearing at The Ronald Reagan Federal Building and U.S. Courthouse in Santa Ana, CA. The detainees (Dongyuan Li, age 41 and Romaldo Marchan Delgado, age 56) were being transported to Santa Ana Jail, less than a mile from the courthouse, but were kept in the van for four hours.
“Li and Marchan Delgado were absolutely helpless, chained up in the back of this sweltering van, and both of them, we think, almost died,” O’Brien said. They’re traumatized to this day, understandably, and we want to find out why it happened and make sure it doesn’t happen to anyone else.”
The LA Times recently reported that Santa Ana Police Officer, Ricky Prieto and Santa Ana Correctional Officer, Caroline Contreras parked the transport van in direct sunlight with the windows rolled up, while Li and Marchan Delgado remained inside. Contreras then turned off the engine and entered the jailhouse with Prieto. The Times reported that Li and Marchan Delgado were removed from the van nearly four hours later by Santa Ana Police. According to the report, the detainees were found drifting in and out of consciousness and suffering from extreme dehydration and heat exhaustion. The report also noted that both Li and Marchan were taken to Orange County Global Medical Center where they were hospitalized for two days.
The lawsuit states that the outside air temperature in Santa Ana on April 8, 2019 reached approximately 84 degrees. The lawsuit notes that the National Weather Service has determined that the temperature inside a car can rise to 123 degrees within an hour under those conditions.
