Driver Who Collapsed in Jail Cell Dies

A 24-year-old Tarzana man who collapsed in the Van Nuys Jail in April after allegedly causing a four-car accident while under the influence of alcohol died Sunday night.

The man, Eric Dennis Fill, was jailed on suspicion of felony drunk driving April 6 after the accident and suffered cardiac and pulmonary arrest in the jail the next morning.

He died about 10:30 p.m. Sunday in Kaiser Permanente Hospital in Panorama City, said Michael H. Brahm, an attorney representing Fill’s family. After being comatose for several weeks, Fill remained hospitalized with minimal body functions until his death, doctors said.

Brahm filed a claim against the City of Los Angeles on April 23 seeking $25 million to cover Fill’s medical expenses for life. The claim alleged that Los Angeles police and jail personnel failed to provide Fill with adequate medical help while he was in police custody.

Brahm said he intends to file a lawsuit against the city on behalf of Fill’s parents if the claim is denied.

Fill, a laborer with Malcolm Excavation Co. of Sun Valley, was driving a company-issued 1987 pickup truck near his home the evening of April 6, when he apparently ran a red light and struck three cars.

The drivers of two of the cars were unhurt, but two 20-year-old youths in the third car were hospitalized with moderate injuries.

Fill, who police said was intoxicated, was taken to Tarzana Hospital Medical Center, where he was examined and found to have cuts on his face and forehead, hospital records show. Fill refused to take a skull X-ray. Tarzana Hospital doctors said Fill was healthy enough to be jailed.

According to Brahm, Fill complained of breathing difficulties during his first night in jail. Police said Fill was examined more than once by a jail doctor, who found no sign of any health problems.

Sgt. William Zimmer, an officer at the jail, said in early April that other jail officers found Fill collapsed in his cell about 6:30 a.m. April 7 after another prisoner yelled that Fill was having trouble breathing.

Fill was then rushed by paramedics to Valley Hospital, where he was diagnosed as suffering from severe laryngeal edema, or swollen throat. Doctors who examined Fill said he had a “crushed trachea” and a large bruise on his chest.

However, Cmdr. William B. Booth, a Los Angeles police spokesman, said Monday that Fill collapsed while being examined by a jail doctor the morning of April 7.

Los Angeles police said an internal investigation revealed no wrongdoing on the part of police and jail personnel and determined that Fill’s injuries were the delayed result of his accident.

Marty Grinley, vice president of the excavation company where Fill worked, said after the accident that the steering wheel of Fill’s truck was bent forward and up. The truck sustained considerable damage, including a shattered windshield, which had strands of hair embedded in the glass, Brahm said.