SANTEE, S.C. — A New Jersey family is seeking justice in the death of their son, 26-year-old Paul Tarashuk, and have filed a lawsuit against four state agencies and individual employees for allegedly not giving proper aid to their son.
Tarashuck was driving along I-95 in Orangeburg County on September 9, 2018, when his pick-up truck ran off the side of the road.
According to the lawsuit, Tarashuk had a "schizophrenic event," suffering from delusion, stripping off his clothes and jumping on the catwalk of a nearby semi-truck.
The driver of the semi-truck, called 911 after seeing Tarashuk on the hood. Law enforcement from the Orangeburg County Sheriff's Office, the Santee Police Department, South Carolina Department of Public Safety, and Orangeburg County Emergency Medical Services all responded to the event.
Body camera footage of that night, shows deputies attempting to speak to Tarashuk, but he eventually speaks gibberish and stops talking all together.
When EMS arrive, Tarashuk continues to remain quiet, with EMTs asking him his name. The lawsuit says Tarashuk was "obviously in an altered mental state."
However EMTs gave him the option to refuse treatment. Under OCEMS protocol "Any patient in the care or custody of police retains the right to refuse transport to the hospital," but in this situation if there is "any doubt about the cause of the patient's alteration in mental status, protocol requires EMT to transport the patient to the hospital for evaluation."
Tarashuk was released from the custody of law enforcement and the care of the EMTs and was dropped off by a deputy at a nearby gas station in Santee.
Four hours later, he was struck and killed by a car on I-95. The same EMS crew responded.
The lawsuit alleges that EMTs, Orangeburg County deputies, highway patrolmen and Santee police officers all "fails to do their job...and were deliberately indifferent to Paul's condition."
His family is seeking justice, answers and a monetary award that will hopefully get the attention of state lawmakers.