A pregnant woman died after Portsmouth police arrested her and ignored her pleas for help, lawsuit says

By Margaret Matray | The Virginian-Pilot | Feb. 13, 2020

But instead of calling EMS or driving to a hospital, officers took her to the police department, according to the suit.

Less than three hours later — and despite calls for help — the 28-year-old died in a police lock-up cell, the lawsuit says.

Now, VanGilder’s parents are suing Portsmouth police, alleging the officers were negligent and failed in their duty to get care for her while she was in custody.

“Had Defendant police officers obtained prompt medical help for Ms. VanGilder, she would not have died,” the lawyers wrote in the lawsuit, which seeks $7 million.

The suit was filed last month in Portsmouth Circuit Court against eight Portsmouth police officers, seven of whom are referred to only as John and Jane Does.

A Portsmouth police spokeswoman and Brian Ingram, the sole officer named in the lawsuit, referred questions to the City Attorney’s Office.

City Attorney Solomon Ashby did not respond to a request for comment. Mark Krudys, an attorney for the VanGilders, declined to comment.

According to the lawsuit, VanGilder was arrested on an outstanding warrant on Dec. 13, 2018.

When detained, she had five aerosol cans in her purse, “clearly indicative of the dangerous and addictive practice of ‘huffing’ inhalants,” lawyers wrote in the suit. She threw up in the police car and at the police station, and her vomit contained foam and mucus.

VanGilder was taken to the police department at 711 Crawford Street just after 8:30 p.m. and placed in a holding cell.

Another woman who was locked up at the police station would later say that VanGilder was in “observable” pain and called out to officers multiple times, repeatedly telling them she was pregnant, the lawsuit says.

The woman said officers made VanGilder “wait and wait” and denied her water. She described hearing VanGilder seizing and gargling, according to the lawsuit.

VanGilder didn’t get medical care until the other woman intervened and called out for help, the lawsuit says.

VanGilder became unresponsive and went into cardiac arrest, and emergency responders couldn’t stabilize her. She died shortly before 11:30 p.m.

The medical examiner found VanGilder died of “acute myocardial ischemia due to difluoroethane and recent cocaine use” and noted early pregnancy as a contributing cause, according to the lawsuit. A toxicology analysis showed no evidence of an acute drug overdose, the suit says.

The medical examiner’s report said VanGilder was wheezing and having difficulty breathing while in the holding cell. The medical examiner found that even if VanGilder had survived, her injuries may have led her to lose her pregnancy, according to the lawsuit.

State Police investigated VanGilder’s death at the request of Portsmouth police and has since turned over its investigation to the Portsmouth Commonwealth’s Attorney’s Office. A spokeswoman for that office, Shea Coleman, said it’s reviewing the evidence and conducting additional investigative work before making a decision on whether to seek criminal charges.