Portland man sues police after getting high on mushrooms and marijuana and burning his fingers off

A man from Portland has filed a lawsuit against Portland police after losing all but two fingers and receiving burns to 30% of his body. Michael Relloque IV had consumed both mushrooms and marijuana and in his intoxicated state had fallen into the fire, he claims that police officers should have done more to save him.

Relloque took his case to court this month. He was asking for $17.5 million from the city and three police officers for damages. According to an article from the Daily Mail he sought $6 million for economic damages and to cover his medical expenses as well as $12 million for the pain and suffering he had endured.

At the US District Court for Oregon Relloque explained that he had been meditating in front of the fire back in November 2020. He told the court that he had smoked cannabis from a bong and drank mushroom tea, (he did not recall consuming the mushrooms). 

Relloque claimed he had no recollection of what happened next or how he ended up in the fire. It was his roommate who called 911, after which three cops arrived at the property to check on him. The roommate had informed officers that he looked like he may have suffered a burn on his arm and also told them he had taken drugs. 

The court heard how the officers called Relloque’s phone, shouted his name, and climbed a ladder in their search for him, but with no response and no evidence the man was in danger there was little action they could take and so the officers ultimately left.

Michael Relloque IV claims the police should have done more

In court Relloque argued that the cops had been negligent in not entering his home. Relloque didn’t recall the police knocking on his door but he was able to remember coming too while surrounded by flames. “I realized that I was in the fireplace and I probably should not be in the fireplace any longer and got out of it,” he told the jurors.

Afterwards he was placed in a medically induced coma for two weeks and had eight fingers amputated. He’s also spent years recovering from the horrific accident.

Ultimately his case was thrown out by the jury after six days of testimony. Defense attorney Lauren Nweze claimed that the police had done their job and had found no evidence Relloque was in any danger. She placed the blame for Relloque’s injuries squarely on his shoulders, telling the court this could happen “if you put yourself in an extremely compromised mental state and put yourself within a couple feet of an open flame.”