New London – The family of a man who died in police custody in 2014 has filed a $54 million federal civil lawsuit against the city, the New London Police Department and Lawrence + Memorial Hospital, claiming the death could have been prevented.

Lashano Gilbert, 31, a native of the Bahamas, died Oct. 4, 2014, following a confrontation with police outside a holding cell at the New London Police Department where he was stunned with a Taser.

Jamaal T. Johnson, a Hartford attorney representing the estate of Lashano Gilbert, claims in the suit that police used excessive force when restraining Gilbert and that hospital staff failed to perform tests necessary to determine why Gilbert was in an altered mental state before releasing him back into police custody prior to his death.

The city was notified of the suit on May 11.

“It’s a sad situation where you have someone who essentially needed help and lost his life due to the actions of people we trust to take care of us and are supposed to have the our best interests in mind,” Johnson said Friday.

Johnson said he is seeking justice for Gilbert’s family, who was still mourning what was a “harsh and abrupt” ending to a promising life. Gilbert, who had a medical degree from Cuba, came to New London in what was a surprise visit to his aunt.

His behavior was, by many accounts, bizarre following his arrival in New London on Oct. 2.

On Oct. 3, 2014, Gilbert was taken into custody by police after allegedly jumping through an open window of a car stopped at a red light at Williams and Broad streets while speaking “gibberish” and pretending to stab the driver though he had no weapon. The woman was not injured.

Responding officers subdued Gilbert with the use of a Taser. Gilbert told police that while he was walking past a cemetery, a ghost had jumped into his stomach, and he had jumped into the vehicle in an attempt to get help.

Gilbert was taken to Lawrence + Memorial Hospital in a state of delirium and, because he was combative, detained in restraints for a time.

“Gilbert was initially not responsive to questions and alternated between periods of calmness and yelling, screaming and thrashing,” the suit claims. At one point, he tried to bite a phlebotomist who attempted to draw blood, the suit alleges.

The suit claims Gilbert should have been sedated and submitted to a battery of tests by hospital staff — blood work, a toxicology screening, a psychiatric exam, computerized tomography (CT) scan or lumbar puncture to determine the cause of his delirium.

By 10 p.m., Gilbert was released back into police custody, where he continued his bizarre behavior, telling police he was worried about his aunt trying to pull out his hair and chanting in an unknown language.

Police said that while in the holding cell, at about 2:30 a.m., Gilbert began twisting a pair of jeans and trying to attach them to a vent. He escaped the holding cell when police entered, and a violent struggle ensued in which Gilbert started to throw things at officers and put one officer in a choke hold, police said.

Police were able to subdue Gilbert with the use of a Taser and pepper spray while holding him on the floor.

“Defendant New London Police Officers continued to apply a substantial amount of weight on Gilbert, and tased him, although he was not moving and became unresponsive,” the suit claims. “Officers, including Officer Chris White … wrapped a towel tightly around Gilbert’s entire face, mouth and head area.”

Gilbert’s cause of death was later ruled to be a homicide, caused by “physical altercation (restraint, electric shock, pepper spray) during acute psychosis complicating sickle cell hemoglobinopathy," according to the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner.

Following an investigation by state police, New London County State's Attorney Michael L. Regan ruled that New London police officers were justified in their use of force when trying to subdue Gilbert. He wrote that the officers' use of physical force was necessary to restrain Gilbert in order to prevent him from harming himself and the police officers present and to prevent his escape.

The suit alleges, however, that police subjected Gilbert to excessive force, inhumane treatment and cruel and unusual punishment, claiming officers “maliciously and sadistically applied force to Gilbert for the purpose of causing harm.”

“(Police officers') actions of deliberately denying a detainee who is suffering from a mental ailment and displaying a serious need for medical/mental health care is unconscionable by today’s societies' standards and not one in which society would choose to tolerate,” the suit claims.

The suit also alleges police violated department policy pertaining to emergency medical dispatch, handling of prisoners and handling of aggressive subjects.

The suit claims medical malpractice by Lawrence + Memorial Hospital and Dr. Deidre Cronin-Vorih because appropriate tests “were the only way that Gilbert could be appropriately medically cleared for transport back to the police station.”

The suit contains a medical opinion by Dr. David Nidorf, who said that medical staff at L+M should not have cleared Gilbert for release.

“I believe that if proper medical and psychiatric clearance had been performed, the patient’s delirium would not have worsened, and he would not have had to be forcibly restrained and tasered, which ultimately would have prevented his death,” Nidorf wrote.

A spokesman with L+M Hospital declined comment on the pending case. An attorney representing the city was not immediately available for comment.

g.smith@theday.com