Former inmate files lawsuit against El Paso County

A former El Paso County jail inmate claims the county ignored his medical conditions, resulting in the loss of ten toes and part of his left foot.

The lawsuit was filed in federal court Monday (2/24) in Denver against Sheriff Bill Elder and other El Paso County deputies.

In the lawsuit, Christopher Spencer claims he is likely to experience debilitating pain for life because of the county’s “deliberate indifference to his serious and obvious medical needs.”

“He’s in a wheelchair now, he’s been homeless since he’s been released, living sporadically from place to place,” said David Lane, the lawyer representing him.

According to the lawsuit, Spencer was shot when he tried to rob someone in Colorado Springs in January 2013. He was taken to Memorial Hospital where he nearly died.

Spencer was charged with conspiracy to commit aggravated robbery in February 2013, and taken to the medical unit of the El Paso County Criminal Justice Center.

According to the lawsuit, Spencer’s circulation was deteriorating and his feet started to swell. The lawsuit claims Spencer’s toes became multicolored and began to fester with sores. He claims no one would provide reasonable or appropriate medical care.

Spencer claims he did not receive appropriate medical care until family friends bailed him out of jail in April 2013. Two weeks later, he lost all ten of his toes and part of his left foot because of the severe gangrene.

Spencer is seeking compensatory and punitive damages.

You can read the lawsuit here.