FAIRFAX, Va. – A man who reportedly suffered a bipolar episode and tried to drown himself in a pool is suing the police officers and lifeguard who pulled him out of the water.
His life was saved but the seasonal worker from Poland said he was left with more than $100,000 in medical bills.
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The lawsuit filed Friday by 23-year-old Mateusz Fijalkowski says he was left underwater for more than two minutes. He says eight police officers watched and stopped a lifeguard from jumping in to save him.
The police department said it stands by its officers, saying they protected themselves and the lifeguard from a disturbed person.
“It’s a frivolous lawsuit — we saved a young man’s life,” Fairfax County Police Chief Edwin Roessler told local radio station WTOP. “He was trying to commit suicide by drowning himself.”
At the time of the incident, Fijalkowski said he had never suffered any mental health episodes. He was later diagnosed with bipolar disorder.
“The police allowed me to sink before their eyes,” Fijalkowski said in an email to the British newspaper The Independent. “I’m glad that in the end they realized that they shouldn't let me drown, but I don’t thank them for letting me die, clinically, before their eyes.”