A lawsuit filed last month in the Baltimore County Circuit Court claims that multiple parties were negligent in the death of York City Police Officer Alex Sable.
Sable’s wife and three children filed the suit against Baltimore County, the county’s police department and two county officers.
Sable, 37, was at Baltimore County Community College on May 6, 2018 for tactical SWAT training to become a member of the York County’s Quick Response Team.
Sable was participating in numerous water exercises, one being where he had a 10 pound weight on his shoulders and was required to tread water for two minutes while wearing boots, pants and a long-sleeve short, the lawsuit says.
According to the suit, Sable was observed by a county medic to be “cyanotic in the lips and pale in the face.” Sable then jogged around the pool with another officer.
Toward the end of training, Sable went underwater during another water exercise — he was required to tread water for approximately 10 minutes.
The lawsuit says Sable was pulled from the pool after being underwater for about 10 seconds. Sable was cyanotic and had no pulse, and was provided with a mask manual resuscitator to provide oxygen. But, according to the suit, the mask was missing and it took several minutes for it to be obtained.
Sable was taken to the hospital and diagnosed with cardiac arrest. He died three days later from cardiac arrhythmia.
The suit alleges that the defendants failed to recognize that Sable was unfit to continue the water exercises prior to his injury and was in severe physical distress during the water exercises prior to his injury, failed to remove Sable from the pool prior to his injury, and failed to administer proper medical care.
Other counts in the lawsuit include the defendants’ alleged violation of Sable’s Maryland Constitutional Rights and failure to train its employees.
