Barbara Arrigoni
Chico Enterprise-Record
WILLOWS — Willows City Council Tuesday approved a settlement in a federal civil rights lawsuit filed in 2008 by Orland resident Reynaldo C. Cabral, who suffered an injury that left him paralyzed during a psychotic episode at Glenn County Jail in 2007.
The city was the first of several defendants to agree to settle. The council approved payment of up to $100,000.
Cabral, now 25, named the city and Willows Police Department as defendants in the lawsuit, along with Glenn County Sheriff’s Office, Sheriff Larry Jones, eight deputies or correctional officers and a jail nurse, Glenn Mental Health Director Scott Gruendl and two employees, Glenn Medical Center, Sierra Family Services, and Butte County and the Butte County Behavioral Health Department.
Though Willows has approved a settlement, the lawsuit is not over. Manager Scott Schimke of Golden State Risk Management said the Glenn County defendants have not all reached agreement on terms.
He also said the Board of Supervisors will not be required to approve any settlement reached.
He said attorneys for the parties involved in the lawsuit are going over the language of the agreement, and it may be resolved soon.
For the city’s part, Willows City Manager Steve Holsinger said in a phone interview earlier this week that the agreement will prohibit commenting other than the amount that involves public funds.
He said the city was named because one of the Willows police officers was involved in extracting Cabral from a cell at the jail.
The Willows portion will be paid through its insurance carrier, Northern California Cities Self-Insurance Fund.
Events leading up to the lawsuit began in early January 2007 when Cabral was found in Bidwell Park, naked and wrapped in Saran wrap doused with kerosene.
He was reportedly taken by Chico police to Butte County Mental Health where he was admitted for 72-hour observation but was released after 10 hours.
Three days later, Cabral was arrested in Orland for choking his girlfriend. She recovered, and Cabral was booked into Glenn County Jail in Willows.
On Jan. 9, the Sheriff’s Office reported that at about 2 a.m. on the previous day, Cabral engaged in bizarre behavior and became combative with officers, throwing feces, vomit and urine on them.
Cabral was Tased when he refused to come out from where he was wedged between the toilet and cell wall. Officers then used pepper spray and were able to remove him to a safety cell. The Sheriff’s Office said Cabral was observed in the safety cell every 15 minutes.
At about 11 a.m., Cabral complained of paralysis and was taken to Glenn Medical Center, according to the original press release. The sheriff also reported Cabral said he had rammed his head against the safety cell wall.
The lawsuit alleges officers stormed Cabral’s cell to subdue him and also claims he was still blinded by the pepper spray when he hit his head on the wall in a psychotic episode about 4:45 a.m., according to a Jan. 9, 2008, article in the Enterprise-Record.
The civil rights lawsuit also claims an employee reported Cabral was seen prone on the floor and moaning at 7 a.m., but he wasn’t given medical help until about 1 p.m., when a nurse confirmed Cabral was paralyzed and called for an ambulance.
The lawsuit contends the jail staff failed to provide Cabral with the medication relatives told them he needed for a psychiatric condition or to provide appropriate mental health care.
Schimke said if the lawsuit is finally resolved, neither the defendants nor plaintiff are admitting any fault, but that a settlement is to resolve the issues, bring peace to all involved and prevent expensive litigation.
He said he could not disclose any amount for the county’s role until all the final signatures are obtained and the lawsuit is dismissed.
Cabral’s attorney, Dick Molin, said in a phone message settlement hasn’t been finalized yet.
A call to Butte County wasn’t returned by deadline.
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