LOMA LINDA, Calif. (KTLA) — A 40-year-old Black man filed a lawsuit Thursday against Loma Linda University Medical Center and eight security guards he accused of attacking him in 2018.
Jesse Simpson, who is homeless, was at the hospital in October 2018 for a follow-up doctor’s appointment after neck surgery. While there, he had a run-in with security inside the restroom, when guards allegedly barged into the stall and invaded his privacy, according to his attorney’s office.
Then when he tried to access the pharmacy to refill a prescription, the guards refused to let him re-enter the hospital, physically blocking access to the pharmacy, his attorney’s office said.
Surveillance video shows a scuffle erupt in the hospital lobby, in which Simpson can be seen taken down to the floor by three security guards.
“They took him down in a violent manner, piled on top of him with three or four guys, proceeded to choke him while he was screaming,” attorney Daniel Balaban said.
Simpson blacked out at one point and was placed in a wheelchair. After nurses checked his vital signs, they used smelling salts to wake him up, according to the lawsuit.
Video shows him waking up in the wheelchair and trying to get up and move. That’s when he was taken down again by guards.
Simpson was eventually charged with trespassing and battery on a security guard but was acquitted of all charges.
“This was completely unprovoked. It was unwarranted, and it was vicious,” Balaban said. “It shouldn’t happen in our society.”
During the scuffle, Simpson’s neck was allegedly injured again, and he was readmitted into a hospital for four more days.
The lawsuit was filed against the medical center, Allied Universal Security Services, LLC, and eight individual guards.
Nexstar Media Wire contributed to this report.