Drunken man passes out in road, sues Lakeland police for negligence when he's run over

LAKELAND, Fla. — A Polk County man who was hit and dragged by a vehicle after he drunkenly passed out in the road, is blaming the Lakeland Police Department for his injuries, according to a lawsuit recently filed in federal court.

David Kidd, 29, admits he was very drunk at the time he was hit, having a blood alcohol level of .295, the suit said.

Two officers from the LPD had responded to the 4300 block of U.S. 98 at about 2:30 a.m. Aug. 19, 2015, on reports of “an extremely intoxicated” person wandering along the road, Kidd alleges.

When they arrived, police found Kidd “loud, belligerent and both mentally and physically unstable,” the suit said.

Emergency medical technicians with Polk County Fire Rescue also responded to the scene and were preparing to take him to the hospital for observation when the LPD officers said they were going to take Kidd into custody and would take him to the hospital, the lawsuit alleges.

Instead, they left him on the side of the road, where he was hit by a car about an hour later, Kidd claims.

“(The officers) instead of taking (Kidd) into custody and transporting him as they had promised PCFR, had instead decided that dealing with (Kidd) and transporting him to the hospital would entail too much time and paperwork … and they did not want to spend three hours at the hospital dealing with (Kidd),” the lawsuit claims.

When he was hit while passed out in the road, Kidd was dragged underneath the vehicle and sustained life-threatening injuries, including a crushed pelvis, numerous broken bones and serious internal injuries, the lawsuit said.

“He will never again walk without assistance,” it said.

Kidd's lawsuit was originally filed in state court in late October, but because he claims the defendants violated his civil rights, the case was moved to federal court Tuesday.

As of Thursday, the defendants in the case had not filed a response to the lawsuit.

Cox Media Group