MURRIETA, CA — San Diego Police Officer Lawrence Orso, 46, released hours after a DUI arrest, suffered a medical emergency and died just outside the courtroom and jail in Murrieta’s Southwest Justice Center almost one year ago. No one noticed his body for nearly an hour.
Now, his family is seeking answers.
In September 2024, Orso, a Murrieta resident, was arrested on a misdemeanor DUI charge and booked into the Cois Byrd Detention Center, according to court records. According to a lawsuit filed on July 2 in U.S. District Court, obtained by The Press-Enterprise, he was wearing a portable EKG monitor at the time of his initial arrest, was taken to the hospital, and cleared for booking. There, he stayed for about two hours before being released on a $2,500 bond at 8:26 a.m…