CLEVELAND — A Cleveland mother says her son is on life support after he was booked into the Cuyahoga County jail early Saturday.
Records show Alexander Foster was booked just after midnight on drug trafficking charges.
County policy says he should have had a medical screening within four hours, including questions about recent drug use.
But at 6:05 a.m., four hours after he was booked, a corrections officer found Foster unresponsive.
The 30-year-old was given Narcan and rushed to the hospital.
"They said he had an overdose, a big overdose and went into cardiac arrest," said Ida Foster.
She was allowed to see her son in the hospital Monday.
She says he was unable to breath on his own.
She doesn't believe Foster received a medical screening. A county spokeswoman spent the day trying to get verification of the medical screening but was unable to do so.
"I'm like why?" said Foster. "If they would have just done what they had to do, he would have been okay."
State inspection results released last week revealed the jail failed to show it screened inmates or that staff who conduct screenings were health trained.
Search warrants reveal county corruption investigators sought files pertaining to plans to consolidate medical screenings of inmates and jail deaths.
Foster says she hopes those investigators can get the answers she hasn't be able to.
"I hope they succeed in what they're trying to do so everybody can live a decent life, not treat everybody like they're dogs" said Foster.
"Is that how you think your son was treated, like a dog?" asked 5 On Your Side Investigators.
"Yes I do," said Foster. "A throw away. Because at the end of the day, he wouldn't be sitting there, or lying there unresponsive if you're doing your jobs."
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