Santa Ana Settled Two Police Shooting Lawsuits for $6.8 Million Last Year
Within a span of six months last year, Santa Ana settled two multi-million dollar wrongful death lawsuits, including its largest ever for an officer-involved shooting. The city doled out a record $3.7 million last April to dismiss the case brought on behalf of Jason Hallstrom, a man Santa Ana police shot dead in 2013. In September, the city also settled the case of Ernesto Canepa, another man killed by police in 2015, for $3.1 million. No local media outlets reported on either of the multi-million payouts.
The Orange County District Attorney's (OCDA) office investigated both deadly shootings and declined to press criminal charges against officers. Federal civil suits remained the only recourse for grieving relatives to challenge official accounts of the incidents. "In the Hallstrom case, we had three plaintiffs," settlement-winning attorney Alexis Galindo told the Weekly. "It was the manner in which the killing occurred. He was shot in the back."
According to the OCDA report, Travis Mock drove Hallstrom around Santa Ana in a gray Nissan Sentra on March 15, 2013 when SWAT officers John G. Rodriguez and Pete Picone began following them. They took notice of the surprised look on the men's faces once they saw police—that, and their white supremacy tattoos. After a pursuit that led to the 5 freeway before exiting, Mock crashed the car and both men fled on foot into a residential neighborhood. Rodriguez claimed Hallstrom made a movement towards his waistband and, in fear of his life, shot him four times in the back.
Hallstrom continued running until hiding between two homes. Rodriguez found and arrested him. The Sentra turned out to be stolen. Hallstrom died a few days later due to the gunshot wounds. The original complaint filed by the first attorney on the case in 2014 alleged that officer Rodriguez opened fire "without reasonable cause to believe that Hallstrom was either armed or dangerous," adding that it "was done maliciously and in reckless disregard of [his] constitutional rights." During depositions, officers testified that they saw no weapons, much less any object in the men's hands that could easily be mistaken for a gun.
Read more: http://www.ocweekly.com/news/santa-ana-settled-two-police-shooting-lawsuits-for-68-million-last-year-7885064
= new reply since forum marked as read
