Daniel Chong

Daniel Chong is a University of California, San Diego engineering student who, at the age of 24 in April 2012, was placed in a Drug Enforcement Administration holding cell for five days and was forgotten during the whole time. While locked up, he was starving and hallucinating and was on the verge of death, and has filed a lawsuit against DEA.

Case
On April 20, 2012, Daniel Chong, was at a friend's apartment in the University City neighborhood of San Diego, where he and his friends were celebrating the traditional 4/20 holiday, a day that refers to cannabis usage. The apartment was raided by the Drug Enforcement Administration, who seized marijuana, hallucinogenic mushrooms, 18,000 ecstasy pills, along with guns and ammunition. Chong was transported to the DEA office in Kearny Mesa where he was interrogated and then placed in a 5 ft. by 10 ft. holding cell while his wrists were bounded in handcuffs. He was remained in the cell for five days and ignored by federal agents despite cries for help. While incarcerated, he claimed that he had to drink his own urine for hydration, and ingested some methamphetamine that he found under a blanket inside the cell in order to keep himself awake. By the time he was discovered, he was suicidal and hallucinating, and was completely incoherent. He attempted suicide by breaking the shards of glass in his eyeglasses and slitting his wrists with them, and swallowing them.

Chong was taken to Sharp Memorial Hospital in Serra Mesa where he remained for three days in the intensive care unit with kidneys that were near failure. He was never formally charged with any crime.

Lawsuit
Attorneys for Daniel Chong filed a $20 million claim against the Drug Enforcement Administration. Chong's treatment regards torture under the law and seeks damages for pain and suffering, future medical and psychiatric treatment, and loss of future earnings.