American Military News by Keri Blakinger - Los Angeles Times April 11, 2024
Three years after a sheriff’s deputy shot an unarmed deaf and autistic man in the living room of his family’s Cudahy home, the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors agreed to pay the family a $25-million settlement.
Isaias Cervantes was left permanently paralyzed as a result of the March 2021 shooting, which took place a few feet away from his mother, sister, therapist and twin brother, who has cerebral palsy.
On Tuesday, the family’s attorney, Austin Dove, told The Times that the settlement in the family’s lawsuit against the county could help them all move forward.
“They’re at a point where they’re feeling some semblance of hope now,” Dove said. “They’re feeling a form of relief.”
The multimillion-dollar settlement is an unusually large sum, even for the lawsuit-prone Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department, which last year — between settlements, judgements and legal fees — cost taxpayers $150 million to defend.
Despite the hefty payout in the Cervantes case, the Sheriff’s Department determined that the deputies involved — David Vega and Jonathan Miramontes — did not violate any policies with their use of force. A corrective action plan did not find that any broader changes were needed to prevent future problems.
In a statement late Tuesday, the department reiterated that its internal review found no policy violations.
“Any call for service that results in a shooting is traumatic for all involved and an additional layer of complexity is added when we encounter an individual who is experiencing a mental health crisis,” the statement said, before going on to highlight the importance of the department’s specialized Mental Evaluation Teams — which were not called to the scene before the shooting in 2021.
“We continue to brief personnel on the importance of utilizing the department’s Mental Evaluation Team resources and responses when they are available,” the department concluded.
The lawyer representing Vega did not offer any comment on Tuesday, but Tom Yu — who is representing Miramontes — expressed his dismay.
“This use of force was solely caused by Mr. Cervantes, not the deputies involved,” he said. “I’m utterly disappointed at the county for giving up on defending the deputies for doing their jobs.”
More:
https://americanmilitarynews.com/2024/04/county-approves-25-million-settlement-for-deaf-autistic-man-shot-by-deputies-in-his-living-room/
