BOERNE, Texas – A man who broke his back after falling from an upper bunk inside a Kendall County Jail cell in late 2021 has filed a federal civil rights lawsuit in U.S. District Court United for the Western District of Texas.
The lawsuit filed Thursday claims inmate Gabriel Miranda faced unconstitutional conditions of confinement.
Miranda broke her back in three places in December 2021 after landing with her feet covered in socks and then on her back while trying to climb down from a top bunk inside the prison.
He had turned himself in to officials a day earlier to serve 72 hours in the county jail as part of a DWI plea deal.
According to the lawsuit and previous KSAT reports, Miranda objected to sleeping on a top bunk because of her weight and a previous injury.
“Mr. Miranda was told, “You will do what we tell you to do.” his request for an upper bunk was at best ignored or, as is more likely the case, flatly denied,” the lawsuit states.
The lawsuit also claims the jail had no medical staff on duty at the time of Miranda’s injury and that detention officers refused to allow paramedics to bring a board into the facility to properly transfer him to a emergency room
Miranda previously told KSAT that instead of loading him onto a board, medical staff lifted him up, making his back arch several times before placing him on a gurney.
Body scans of Miranda later revealed a fractured sacrum and two lumbar fractures.
During an interview with KSAT in early 2022, Miranda was still using the aid of a walker to help him get around.
He spent 19 days in hospitals and a rehabilitation center due to his back injury.
Kendall County Sheriff’s officials and Kendall County Judge Shane Stolarczyk did not respond Friday to an email seeking comment on the lawsuit.
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