Overview

• The federal lawsuit filed Aug. 6 names the City of Coos Bay and Officers Benjamin Martin, Tristan Smith and Wesley O’Connor, alleging negligence, abuse of a vulnerable person and deliberate indifference.
• According to court filings, officers failed to act on Nathan Bradford Smith’s labored breathing as he overdosed on methamphetamine in a locked patrol car at the station.
• State police review of bodycam and dashcam footage shows Martin parked with Smith inside, then went into headquarters to handle personal texts and browse TikTok.
• Paramedics arrived to find Smith at a recorded 107 °F and he later died at Bay Area Hospital; his death certificate lists hyperthermia from methamphetamine intoxication.
• A year-long state police inquiry produced no criminal charges, and the civil suit now seeks unspecified damages on behalf of Smith’s family.