FBI investigating after man dies of rattlesnake bite in tribal custody Story-Date: 10:32 a.m. PST Thursday , August 13, 1998 ------------------------------------------------------------ FBI investigating after man dies of rattlesnake bite in tribal custody WARM SPRINGS, Ore. (AP) -- A man who had been drinking died of a rattlesnake bite after he was detained in a jail cell for several hours before being taken to the hospital. A witness said authorities assumed he was drunk. The FBI is investigating. Luthur Danzuka, 42, died Aug. 5 after being bitten by the snake on the Warm Springs Indian Reservation. He told a friend, William Wainanwit, who called 911. But medics and police took him to the Warm Springs Jail for observation. "They said, `Oh, he's not bit. He's just drunk," Wainanwit said. At the jail, officers noted that Danzuka's right arm was swollen and that he was having difficulty breathing. He died shortly after arriving at a hospital in Madras, where he was taken by ambulance. The FBI has begun an investigation into the death, and five public safety employees from the reservation have been placed on administrative leave. Deputy State Medical Examiner Nikolaus Hartshorne said snakebite was the cause of death. "If he had had the anti-venom within a few hours after he was bitten, there is a significant chance he would have survived. That is not to say that he necessarily would have survived," he said. The Confederated Tribes of Warm Springs said in a statement that after questioning Danzuka and talking by phone with hospital staff, medics were unable to determine "with any certainty that there was the presence of any snakebite wound." Jody Calica, the tribes' chief operations officer, said Danzuka's death was unfortunate. "We are taking all possible measures to determine if appropriate procedures were followed and to be sure that they will be in the future," Calica said. According to Wainanwit, Danzuka had stopped by Wainanwit's home shortly after 10 p.m. on Aug. 4 and asked for a ride home. Wainanwit said he didn't have enough gas. Danzuka, who had been drinking but was not slurring his words or stumbling, said that was OK and began walking away. A minute or so later, Wainanwit heard a yell and then found Danzuka back at his door. "He was holding his arm, and then we saw the blood coming out of his arm, out of the fang marks. We asked, `What happened?' He said, `I got bit by a rattlesnake,"' Wainanwit said. A neighbor got a dog collar to use as a tourniquet, while Wainanwit called 911 at 10:19 p.m. A tribal dispatcher sent medical and police units to the scene. Wainanwit said the ambulance sat in front of his house for 20 minutes, and neither he nor his neighbors could figure out why Danzuka wasn't being rushed to the hospital. He said one of the attendants finally opened the door and said Danzuka hadn't been bitten, but had scratched his arm on barbed wire and was simply intoxicated. Police handcuffed Danzuka and took him away in a patrol car, Wainanwit said. Death by snakebite is rare in Oregon. Dr. James F. Wallace of the University of Washington School of Medicine in Seattle said rattlesnakes in the Northwest generally aren't large enough to produce enough venom to kill a person. Deaths are more common in the South and Southwest, where rattlers can grow to be 5 feet long. ------------------------------------------------------------