Prisoner to Leave Jail to Donate His Bone Marrow

VAN NUYS —  In what police called a rare, life-or-death case that justified bending the rules, a prisoner facing felony charges in two states will be temporarily released from jail today to donate bone marrow in an attempt to save his sister from dying of cancer.

Leo Stevens of Oakland, who was arrested Friday in the west San Fernando Valley driving a car that was allegedly rented with a counterfeit credit card, will undergo the surgery at UCLA Medical Center, detectives said.

The bone marrow will be handed over to a messenger from the UC San Francisco Medical Center--where his sister, Barbara Diggs, is awaiting the transplant--to be flown there immediately.

Stevens’ arrest threatened to block his plans to make the marrow donation in San Francisco on Monday, until his sister and her doctor phoned detectives, persuading them to allow Stevens to visit a hospital under guard to carry out the procedure, the physician said.

Doctors in San Francisco said that only Stevens, 41, has bone marrow that is a genetic match for his sister’s, said Det. Tom Nolan, who works in the LAPD’s forgery unit in Van Nuys.

“We made some phone calls and established the fact that this is a life-or-death situation,” Nolan said. “I don’t know if this guy would have gone on his own,” the skeptical Nolan added. “But I think he’s legitimately concerned for his sister.”

Stevens was arrested after he pulled alongside a police car, asked for directions, then failed to proceed through a green traffic light, police said. Officers pulled him over, and a computer check of his driver’s license showed that he was wanted on felony forgery charges in Las Vegas and similar charges in Northern California. Police said Stevens also is on probation for previous forgery offenses.

Nolan worked with the Sheriff’s Department--which has Stevens in custody in the Men’s Central Jail--to take him to UCLA and guard him throughout the day today. It was unclear who would pay for the medical procedure, police said.

The marrow transplant is urgently needed to save Diggs’ life, said Dr. Hope Rugo of UCSF, her doctor.

Diggs, who was diagnosed about 18 months ago with cancer of the lymph glands, has been undergoing massive chemotherapy and radiation treatments over the past week to prepare her for the transplant.

Rugo said she learned about Stevens’ arrest Friday and immediately contacted police to ask them to allow him to donate the bone marrow, which will be extracted from his pelvic bone.

“This transplant is lifesaving and it’s a safe procedure for him,” Rugo said. “It’s her only chance. She is just so relieved.”

Stevens will probably return to jail Wednesday, police said.

“He faces some jail time, I’m sure,” Nolan said. “But at least something good will come out of this.”