A wrongful death lawsuit claims a police officer was sending intimate texts and scrolling TikTok while a man overdosed in the back of a patrol car, according to The Oregonian.
Filed in federal court, the suit alleges that 33-year-old Nathan Bradforth Smith showed clear signs of a methamphetamine overdose while in custody in Coos Bay, Oregon, but officers ignored him. Instead, the lawsuit says they were busy with personal messages and TikTok videos.
The complaint names officers Benjamin Martin, Wesley O’Connor, and Tristan Smith, accusing them of failing to act after Nathan’s July 7, 2024 arrest.
Nathan, who reportedly lived with bipolar disorder and schizophrenia, was found unconscious by Martin and later died at a hospital. His cause of death was listed as “hyperthermia due to methamphetamine intoxication.”
State police records show Coos Bay officers had three interactions with Nathan that day—first around 11 a.m. during an unrelated meth pipe seizure, then at 3 p.m. after reports of him screaming outside a business, and finally at 5 p.m., when he was found lying on a sidewalk near a Motel 6.
During the arrest, body and dash cam footage reportedly showed Nathan’s breathing was “loud and somewhat labored.” Back at the station, Martin replied to a text saying, “I’m so ready for snuggles I feel like I haven’t seen you in a week.” When he returned to the car, Nathan was unresponsive. Martin administered Narcan and called for an ambulance.
Paramedics found Nathan’s temperature at 107 degrees. He went into cardiac arrest at Bay Area Hospital and died about an hour later.
No criminal charges have been filed in the case so far.
