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A Minnesota man died in agony inside a jail after days crawling on the floor begging staff for help, his family have claimed.

Lucas Bellamy, 41, died from a perforated bowel behind bars on July 21, 2022.

Shocking footage from inside Hennepin County jail shows Bellamy on his hands and knees on the concrete, as staff look on. At one point he struggles to pull himself up onto a chair. A guard leans against the wall, looking on, as Bellamy writhes in pain.

On Tuesday, his parents and sister held a press conference to demand justice for Lucas, and to call for reform to the way inmates are treated.

They said Lucas was treated like 'he was subhuman, like he was an animal.'

His father Louis Bellamy, founder of the well-known Penumbra Theatre in St. Paul, said that the horror of Lucas' death was beyond anything a director could ever create.

'I've made my living as a theater director. I know how to construct tragedy on stage,' he said on Tuesday.

'And I can tell you honestly that I could not have built anything more callous, more disrespectful to humanity, human existence, than what I witnessed on that tape.

'It can't go unanswered, those people who chose to disregard his pleas for help.'

Lucas was arrested on July 18, 2022 on charges of fleeing police in a suspected stolen vehicle and possession of brass knuckles.

During jail intake, Lucas, who had a long history of battling drug addiction, told staff that he had ingested a bag of drugs and was taken to Hennepin County Medical Center, known as HCMC, the suit said.

He was monitored and returned to jail with instructions to return to the emergency department if he exhibited any concerning symptoms.

The Bellamy family's attorney, Jeff Storms, showed the news media video of Lucas' interactions with nurses and jail guards.

The last clip revealed him just behind his cell door, the lower half of his body slowly moving about until he went still and died - four days after his arrest.

'Lucas spent the last day of his life... desperately begging nurses and jail guards to see a doctor,' the suit states.

'Lucas could have been saved with proper treatment. Instead, he endured a real-life nightmare and died.'