Man held in crime spree didn't get needed drugs at Dane County Jail, his parents say

Source: The Wisconsin State JournalSept.儲存 19--The parents of a Madison man who police say committed at least 16 felonies in three counties last week said their son was not given medication needed to treat his bipolar disorder when he was in the Dane County Jail days before he went on his alleged crime spree.James Kruger, 36, was in a manic state during his stay in jail following his arrest for eluding or obstructing an officer on Aug. 29 even though a jailer and social worker were notified that he needed lithium, said his mother, Barbara Nicholson.Days after his release from the jail, police said Kruger went on a two-day crime spree that included a stabbing, robbery, kidnapping and a high-speed chase before he was caught near Mount Horeb on Sept. 10 and sent to the Iowa County Jail in Dodgeville.Kruger was indicted Wednesday on a charge of being a felon in possession of a firearm in U.S. District Court in Madison. He has not yet been charged with any felonies by the three counties -- Dane, Iowa and Grant -- that are expected to prosecute him."That was a very, very sick man who that jail turned out on the streets," said Nicholson, of Mount Horeb.Dane County Jail Administrator Richelle Anhalt said federal law prohibited her from speaking specifically about Kruger's case but said it was possible that Kruger did not receive his needed medications if he did not have a current prescription for them when he arrived at the jail."Depending on when he came in, he may very well not have had the opportunity (to get medication)," Anhalt said.Kruger was assessed by medical personnel after his arrival and went through normal protocol to determine what medications he was, or had been, taking, Anhalt said. She also confirmed that Nicholson talked to somebody from the jail's mental health unit while Kruger was in jail.Anhalt said that if a new inmate has a prescription and was actively taking medications prior to their arrival, the jail would automatically provide them.If an inmate had stopped taking his drugs and didn't have an active prescription upon his arrival, he would need to see a jail doctor or psychiatrist before he could get medication, Anhalt added."It does take awhile to get that set up, and they just can't start somebody (on medication) if they haven't been taking them," Anhalt said.Kruger arrived just before the start of the Labor Day weekend when medical staff wasn't as readily available, Anhalt said. A doctor is usually available at the jail during four weekdays, and a psychiatrist is at the jail for 16 hours a week on weekdays, she added."Depending on when he came in on that cycle, he may or may not have had an opportunity to see a doctor at that juncture," Anhalt said.Nicholson said Kruger had stopped taking lithium for his bipolar disorder prior to his arrest. He had been under a court order to take all medications as prescribed during his probation that had ended weeks earlier."He told his father his medication wasn't working and he was having horrible delusional thoughts and was afraid to tell his doctor about it because he feared he'd be sent to Mendota (Mental Health Institute)," Nicholson said.Kruger's father, Gale Kruger, said he believes that Dane County Jail staff was negligent."Did they fail him? Sure they did. When he got locked up in Iowa County, the nurse called me the next day and asked what kind of medications he was on. He sits in Dane County for five days and nobody does nothing," said Kruger, of Platteville."I'm not condoning what my son did, but there's negligence and there's people who need to be held accountable for being stupid," he added.Gale Kruger also said Dane County's District Attorney's office should not have released his son from jail on a signature bond on Sept. 4 after erroneously believing he would迷你倉stay in jail on a probation hold."The guy who did that should be fired because he ended up putting a lot of people in harm's way," Kruger said.Dane County District Attorney Ismael Ozanne said he understands the emotions Kruger's parents are feeling as they grieve. He reiterated his earlier comments that the assistant district attorney handling the case made a mistake in not asking for cash bail.Ozanne also said the fact that Kruger didn't get medication he needed when he was in jail doesn't mean jailers or medical staff dismissed the calls from his mother that he needed to be evaluated.He said if an inmate looks and acts normally, jailers won't take action after someone calls to alert them that they might be unstable. "I can't say that nobody did anything (with Kruger)," Ozanne said. "It's a matter of how he was presenting."The indictment by a federal grand jury said Kruger was in possession of a .22 caliber double-barreled firearm, a loaded 9mm semi-automatic handgun and a loaded 12-gauge shotgun on Sept. 10.Madison police are asking the Dane County District Attorney's Office to charge Kruger with attempted first-degree intentional homicide for the Sept. 9 stabbing at an East Side residence, according to spokesman Joel DeSpain.Iowa and Grant counties are expected to charge Kruger with up to 15 felonies, according to law enforcement officials.Nicholson said her son told her when she visited him at the Iowa County Jail that he was acting in self defense during the stabbing incident.Kruger was trying to pull his girlfriend out of a house where he thought she could be harmed when two men held guns to his head and took him to the basement, she said her son told her.After that, Kruger headed toward Platteville to seek out his father, Gale Kruger said. He never got there, but they talked on the phone."He called me and said, 'These people were trying to kill me. It was self-defense.' I told him to turn himself in. He had nothing to hide," Gale Kruger said.Kruger then drove to Cassville where police said he beat up Gale Kruger's twin brother, Dale, and stole his guns and some coins from his safe.Nicholson said her son may have been reacting to the deteriorating medical condition of Gale Kruger, who has Lou Gehrig's disease.Gale Kruger said his brother, who ended up with a badly sprained wrist, was deeply affected by the incident because he helped raise Kruger and was still close to him."That tells you Jamie was not in the right frame of mind," Gale Kruger added.Kruger went on to take town of Cassville farmer Walter Riedl hostage and drove Riedl's truck and cattle trailer around Grant and Iowa counties before Riedl escaped in Dodgeville, police said.Kruger was later apprehended after driving the wrong way down Highway 18-151 at speeds in excess of 100 mph, police said.Nicholson said her son confirmed Riedl's comments that Kruger was suicidal and smoking some sort of a drug while he was behind the wheel of Riedl's truck.As Kruger approached Mount Horeb during the high-speed chase, police arrived at Nicholson's apartment and took her out of the village to keep her safe, Nicholson said.She added she was extremely relieved nobody was hurt.Kruger is a habitual criminal, but his parents said their son is a smart, giving and caring person when he is on his medication."My heart aches for these people who he affected," Nicholson said. "My heart aches for my family. My heart aches for me and my son. None of this would have happened if they had stabilized him in jail, if they had got him on medication. They should have sent him out the door with medication."Copyright: ___ (c)2013 The Wisconsin State Journal (Madison, Wis.) Visit The Wisconsin State Journal (Madison, Wis.) at .wisconsinstatejournal.com Distributed by MCT Information Servicesmini storage