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Man cuffed in DEA cell for 5 days: I spoke to man, then room went dark

SAN DIEGO -- A San Diego college student who was locked and handcuffed in a U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration cell for five days without food or water says he exchanged words with a man through his cell door just before a light was turned off.

Daniel Chong told reporters Thursday that he doesn't remember what was said before the lights went out in his windowless cell. He believes the encounter occurred on his third day in captivity.

The U.S. Justice Department inspector general says four DEA employees saw or heard Chong during his April 2012 incarceration.

A summary of the investigation, released Tuesday, doesn't indicate when the employees encountered Chong or what they heard or saw.

Chong and his attorneys are calling for the release of the full report.

The inspector general faulted several DEA employees for their handling of the incident that left Chong in grave physical health, cost the agency a $4.1 million settlement and led to nationwide changes in the agency's detention policies.

The employees told investigators they found nothing unusual in their encounters with Chong and assumed whoever put him in the cell would return for him shortly. Chong, then 23, ingested methamphetamine, drank his own urine to survive and cut himself with broken glasses while he was held.

According to CBS affiliate KFMB, Chong suffered acute renal failure, muscle degeneration and dehydration during the ordeal and was hospitalized for four days.

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