New Milford family suing town and police after son died of an opioid overdose
News Times –
A New Milford mother has formally sued the town and three employees of the local police department in relation to her son’s 2019 opioid overdose death, claiming negligence, carelessness, and improper prisoner security and welfare procedure. Guendesberger filed a suit stating that the “negligence and/or carelessness of one or more members” of the New Milford Police Department— including three specific department members — contributed to the death of 20-year-old Brian Cody Waldron during the summer of 2019.
The suit alleges that the officers “failed to assess Mr. Waldron’s mental status and behavior,” “failed to recognize the signs, symptoms and/or other indicators of Mr. Waldron’s potential harmful behavior,” and that they “had reasonable cause to believe Mr. Waldron was a danger to himself and/or others and did not take him for an emergency examination.” It goes on to state that one of the officers “had reasonable cause to believe that Mr. Waldron was a danger to himself” and in need of care.
“Within 10 minutes he’s out the door and they don’t call the girlfriend, they don’t call the girlfriend’s father, they don’t call the family, they don’t call anyone,” said the plaintiff’s attorney Robert Guendelsberger. “What they should have done is taken him back to New Milford Hospital to be evaluated by a professional.”