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Mother Blames Deputy For Son's Heroin Death

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By TODD RUGER of the Sarasota Herald-Tribune

Published: January 10, 2008

SARASOTA COUNTY - Deputy Gabriel Eckert stopped in a shopping center parking lot and noticed a 21-year-old man apparently passed out in the passenger seat of a Jeep, with mucus coming from his nose.

Eckert tapped on the window with his flashlight and got no response. He spent about 15 seconds there, then sent a digital communication to other deputies: "U SHOULD C THIS 1 ... HE IS CLOSER TO DEAD ... NICE, JUST WHO U WANT DRIVING AROUND AT NITE."

Stephen M. Bongiorno was found dead of a heroin overdose in the Jeep the next morning, and his mother has filed a wrongful-death lawsuit against Eckert and Sarasota County for not doing more to help her son.

"It made me so sad because my son could have lived," said Susan Deskins of Riverview.

The deputy, she said, "could have cared less. If that was his son in that car, I think he would have done more."

During an internal investigation, Eckert said he should have pulled on the door handle when he stopped about 1 a.m. in the lot at 2881 Clark Road, sheriff's office records state. He also said he should have been more assertive in determining Bongiorno's condition and called an ambulance if needed.

A shopping center employee saw Bongiorno's body in the Jeep about 6:30 a.m. Nov. 1, 2006.

A cell phone was open on his lap, the vehicle doors were unlocked and the key was in the ignition, a sheriff's office record states.

The sheriff's office cited Eckert for neglect of duty and suspended him for a week.

The lawsuit contends that Eckert, hired in 2002, showed a willful disregard for human rights and safety and argues that Sarasota County did not adequately train Eckert in how to respond to a possible drug overdose.

"He's got to verify the person is free of harm," said Deskins' attorney, Charles Gallagher of St. Petersburg. "He would have an obligation to follow through and seek measures for further care."

The county also does not have a clear written policy for deputies on providing medical care when an immediate need is recognized, the lawsuit states.

"I don't want this to happen to someone else," Deskins said.

Deskins said she also filed the lawsuit because the sheriff's office was crass and without compassion and did not give her any information for months.

"It took them months and months to talk to us," Deskins said. "It was like no big deal to them."

Deskins also said that detectives told her that the friend Bongiorno was with that night was to blame and Bongiorno probably was already dead when Eckert saw him.

"When I asked the time of death, they didn't want to tell," Deskins said.

"All I know is there's the window of time. It could be 10 p.m. to 4 a.m."

An autopsy report lists the cause of death as acute heroin intoxication but does not list a time of death. Detectives told the medical examiner's office that Bongiorno had a history of cocaine possession and and that a woman thought to be his girlfriend had a history of heroin abuse, records state.

Sheriff's spokesman Chuck Lesaltato said the office would not comment because of the litigation.

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