The Drug Enforcement Administration apologized Wednesday to Chong, who was accidentally left in a holding cell for five days and reportedly drank his own urine to survive.
The DEA, which identified Chong only as "the individual in question," said the 23-year-old and eight others were swept up during a raid of a suspected Ecstasy distribution operation where agents found guns, ammunition, 18,000 Ecstasy pills and other drugs.
The nine suspects were taken to a DEA area headquarters, where they were fingerprinted, photographed and interviewed, the agency said. After processing, seven were taken to a county detention facility and one was released.
Chong, the agency said, was "accidentally left in one of the cells." He told NBC San Diego he kicked the door "many, many times" in a futile attempt to get agents' attention.
When they finally found Chong, he was taken to Sharp Memorial Hospital, where he spent five days. Iredale said Chong, who was close to kidney failure and had trouble breathing, spent three of those days in the intensive-care unit.
Chong also suffered hallucinations and "thought he was going insane," Iredale said. Chong told NBC San Diego he tried to kill himself by breaking his glasses and cutting his wrists.
"I didn't care if I died," he told the station. "I was completely insane."
latimes.com