Brotherly love

In 2007, Larry Ingraham received a call that his brother, Van, was in a hospital in Newport Beach, Calif.

Larry was told that Van had suffered a minor injury. But when Larry arrived at the hospital, he learned that Van had a broken neck and crushed spinal cord. A neurosurgeon told Larry, “Somebody did this to your brother.”

Van Ingraham died six days after he was found lying on the floor of his room. The severely autistic man had spent most of his life at a state-run facility for the developmentally disabled.

Larry, a retired police officer, spent years trying to find out how Van died in a place that was supposed to keep him safe. Hear what happened when he met Ryan Gabrielson, a reporter investigating the state police force responsible for protecting residents of facilities like the one where Van lived.

Read Gabrielson’s investigation, Broken Shield.

Or download the e-book, “In the Wrong Hands.”

Watch “Behind Closed Doors,” a video about the failures of the Office of Protective Services, the state-run police force at California’s developmental centers:

Featured image: Larry Ingraham (left), a retired San Diego police officer, spent years trying to find out how his brother, Van Ingraham, died in 2007 in a state-run developmental center that was supposed to keep him safe. Larry and Van are shown in a 1963 family photo on the right. Credits: Photo on left: Nadia Borowski Scott; photo on right: Courtesy of Larry Ingraham