Lawsuit: North Las Vegas violated Americans with Disabilities Act

A North Las Vegas man this week filed a federal lawsuit alleging that the city of North Las Vegas and its police department violated the Americans with Disabilities Act by failing to protect the civil rights of the mentally ill.

The lawsuit filed by Lee Szymborski, 64, states that his son, Sean, was charged in 2016 in the strangulation death of his roommate, 55-year-old Review-Journal dockworker Peter Stebbins. His son is in the Clark County Detention Center and awaits trial.

Sean Szymborski had on “at least six occasions” been placed under a Legal 2000 hold, which is issued when people are considered a danger to themselves or others, according to the lawsuit.

Two days before Stebbins’ slaying, a security guard called police and said Sean Szymborski was suicidal and had “threatened to kill his roommates and any police officers who tried to intervene,” the lawsuit said.

The police department “had a duty to put a Legal 2000 hold on my son Sean because he was suicidal and a danger to himself and others,” the lawsuit states.

Lee Szymborski, who is representing himself and drafted the lawsuit, also names Municipal Court Judge Sean Hoeffgen and police Officer Dale Smock as defendants, saying that they violated the ADA and “failed to provide equal access to programs, services and facilities including equal participation in the enforcement of laws.

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Lee Szymborski suffers from anxiety, panic disorder, depression and post-traumatic stress disorder, the lawsuit said.

Lee Szymborski is currently facing a charge in North Las Vegas for filing a false police report, and was convicted of being a nuisance in 2017, court records show.

Police referred a request for comment to the city. North Las Vegas spokeswoman Delen Goldberg declined to comment, citing the pending litigation.

Contact Briana Erickson at berickson@reviewjournal.com or 702-384-5244. Follow @brianarerick on Twitter.