An Oregon sheriff’s office released video September 3 showing two deputies laughing and making callous remarks as they recorded an Army veteran Bryan Perry writhing in pain in a padded jail cell as he died from an overdose.
“We should go show this to his girlfriend and be like, ‘You love this?” one of the deputies can be heard saying.
“Look what I got for show-and-tell” Clackamas County deputy Ricky Paurus says to his colleagues.
Deputy Paurus continues, suggesting they could place the inmate in a cage and wheel him into a classroom full of children to show them what happens when people use drugs.
“Fantastic,” deputy Lacy Sandquist says of Paurus’s idea.
Another deputy jokes asking whether or not he “has tried to eat anybody’s face yet.”
Perry, 31, served in the Iraq War, was honorably discharged and earned a purple heart, according to the Army Times.
He died of a methamphetamine overdose on Novermber 4, 2016, just hours following an arrest for a probation violation.
Perry and his girlfriend had been arrested together.
As they were being escorted to separate holding cells, she yelled, “I love you,” according to 18 pages of police records released Wednesday.
Three hours after being booked into jail, he stopped breathing and began foaming at the mouth.
Deputies, along with a nurses aid, attempted chest compressions and CPR.
Perry was pronounced dead at Kaiser Sunnyside Medical Center at 12:16 a.m. from cardiac arrest caused from methamphetamine toxicity.
“The laughter, substance, and tone of several comments heard from my employees in that video were inappropriate, and do not conform to our professional standards,” Clackamas County Sheriff Craig Roberts said in a statement criticizing the conduct of his three deputies.
A recently filed lawsuit alleges deputies and medical staff violated Perry’s rights by failing to regularly check on him, delaying medical aid and waiting too long to transport him to a hospital for medical treatment.
Sheriff Roberts stated his officer conducted an internal investigation and took disciplinary actions against Sandquist and Paurus, but did not specify what kind of disciplinary actions were taken.
Deputy Shadrin, who recorded the videos, resigned before the investigation began.
According to his obituary, Perry served as a gunner in an infantry unit of the U.S. Army during Operation Iraqi Freedom and was honorably discharged with a Purple Heart after being wounded in 2003.
‘He was known for his fortitude and never backed down from something he believed in or felt was important. Bryan was incredibly loyal and would willingly stand up for the people he loved and cared about.’
