DENVER — The Huerfano County Sheriff is among a group of people being sued for civil rights violations after what the family of an inmate says was a deadly encounter with detention officers.
This story started a couple of years ago when a man was taken to jail in Huerfano County after experiencing what an attorney described as a mental health crisis. FOX31 is told he was taken to the detention center after waiving a mallet and screaming incoherent messages about a fence.
The video released on Thursday shows the encounter between 69-year-old Michael John Burch and Huerfano County Sheriff Detention deputies.
The officers could be heard ordering Burch to put down a pencil when things took a turn for the worse on March 28, 2023.
“Put that down drop the pencil now! Now! Drop it! Or we’ll drop you!” one of the detention officers could be heard saying.
One of them asked Burch if he was planning to stab them with the pencil. Moments later, Burch is tased and a scuffle breaks out. It was during that encounter that lawyers for Burch’s family say six of the inmate’s ribs were broken.
One of the videos shows an officer finding Burch’s lifeless body on the floor days after the encounter with officers.
“Mr. Burch was beaten. He was denied medical care for 8 days straight. And died an excruciatingly painful death,” Burch Family lawyer Omeed Azmoudeh said.
Paramedics were called and there was an online nurse’s visit. But attorneys say he never received the medical attention he needed despite being in extreme pain and asking to see a doctor.
“As alleged in the complaint this is torture and this cannot happen in a civilized society,” Azmoudeh said.
Attorneys say Burch’s civil rights were violated and they are asking for transparency and compensation. They are suing people involved in the incident and Sheriff Bruce Newman of Huerfano County. The detention center is in Walsenburg.
“This isn’t an oopsie. This isn’t an ‘I wish we had trained you better.’ You simply cannot train this type of humanity that’s necessary,” Burch family attorney Qusair Mohamedbhai said.
Burch was a grandfather, who attorneys said appeared to be experiencing dementia. His relationship with his family is described by attorneys as complicated. It was told he was a corrections officer in California for more than 20 years before retiring in Colorado.
Burch’s family was not at the news conference and they are asking for privacy. Their attorneys said they had tried to get answers themselves but the sheriff’s office was not answering their questions. We reached out to the attorney representing the sheriff and the others named in the lawsuit.
That attorney said there was no comment at this time. We are told this federal civil rights lawsuit could take a couple of years to make through the courts.