protect and serve;

A concerned Dollar General customer called 911 when they saw a man outside of the Alabama store clutching his chest and mouthing “help me” in May, according to a federal lawsuit.

Jeremy Lee Thompson, 34, died hours after dispatchers sent two Geneva police officers to him instead of the medical assistance he needed on May 21, the lawsuit filed in November says.

When the officers found Thompson in his car, he told them he was having a stroke, according to a complaint. But they “ignored (his) serious medical needs” and arrested him after claiming he had an open container of alcohol in the car, the complaint states.

“Instead of taking Thompson to the emergency room where the officers would have to remain while he received medical care, the officers transported (him) to the Geneva County Jail,” the complaint states

Thompson’s grandmother, Verlon Elizabeth Thompson, is suing the two officers, accusing them of depriving her grandson of his civil rights and causing his death by not seeking medical care before he was brought to jail and later diagnosed with a heart attack.

The lawsuit contends they violated Geneva County Jail’s inmate admission procedures.

McClatchy News contacted an attorney representing the two officers for comment and the Geneva Police Department on Dec. 20.........more........