Story Archive

Forgotten

Victoria Ugalde was supposed to be on the way to jail for failure to show up in court after getting a traffic ticket. But the jail van had no room, so she sat in the holding cell at a Denver, Colo., police station, chained to a bench — for almost 13 hours. “They forgot about me,” she said. “I was looking in the camera ... ‘Can anybody help me?’” Apparently not. She had to use the floor for a toilet — and for a bed. There was an officer at the desk, and he was supposed to be checking in on her every half hour, but admitted he was busy reading a book: Emotional Intelligence 2.0. He was suspended for seven days, but that was later reduced to three, and Ugalde is considering filing a lawsuit. (AC/KMGH Denver) ...Failure to pay a ticket: jail time. Failure to take care of a chained prisoner: a few days off work.