Search warrant: Man dies after exhibiting ‘seizure-like symptoms’ during Dakota County jail booking

A man arrested in Dakota County who exhibited “seizure-like symptoms” during jail intake died days later, according to court records and the Sheriff’s Office.

Kingsley Fifi Bimpong, 50, of Cottage Grove, was taken to the jail in Hastings on Nov. 19 on suspicion of drunken driving in Eagan, a search warrant affidavit made public Wednesday disclosed.

Sheriff Joe Leko said Thursday that Bimpong “was incoherent, and his condition deteriorated. ... We rushed him to the hospital as soon as we could see that it wasn’t good.”

Leko suggested that Bimpong might have actually been affected more by whatever medical difficulty he was having at the time, rather than being intoxicated.

The sheriff said Bimpong died a few days later, and “we’re waiting on the medical examiner’s report” for a determination of what led to the death.

An affidavit was filed by the Washington County Sheriff’s Office seeking permission to collect Bimpong’s medical records that might shed light on his death. The neighboring Sheriff’s Office is heading the investigation in order to avoid a conflict of interest, Leko said.

According to the affidavit:

At the jail, Bimpong was unable to complete the booking process and “was eventually noticed by correction officers as having seizure-like symptoms while in the intake waiting area.”

Corrections staffers provided medical attention to Bimpong at the jail, where he had been in custody for about four hours.

Ambulance personnel took him to a hospital in Hastings, then he was transferred to United Hospital in St. Paul and later died.