Two Buena Park cops used extreme drive once they fatally shot a 19-year-old man affected by a psychological breakdown, a Santa Ana jury discovered this week and subsequently awarded his mom $3.5 million in damages.
Officers Bobby Colon and Jennifer Tran shot and killed 19-year-old David Sullivan on Aug. 19, 2019 once they confronted him after he stole a automobile from his office, in line with attorneys for the sufferer’s household. Sullivan, who was shot a number of occasions, was unarmed.
The plaintiff’s attorneys argued that Sullivan was struggling a psychological breakdown that required the officers to make use of correct non-ethal strategies for coping with an individual in misery.
This was the second time the officers had been tried within the case. A federal jury held on the case in 2022 and a mistrial was declared, in line with the plaintiff’s attorneys. The case was then remanded to state courtroom.
Though Colon and Tran shall be held civilly accountable for the taking pictures, it’s unlikely they may face skilled repercussions, stated Gary Dordick, the lawyer who led the plaintiff’s trial staff.
Colon and Tran tried to drag Sullivan over for an expired registration on the day of the taking pictures, Dordick stated in a press launch. Sullivan tried to flee within the stolen SUV, hanging the police automotive and a passerby.
When Sullivan’s automobile got here to a cease, he charged on the officers on foot. The officers fired seven pictures, hanging Sullivan 4 occasions in a taking pictures caught on one officer’s physique digicam, in line with the plaintiff’s lawyer’s.
The defendants argued throughout trial that Sullivan, who was over 6 ft tall and weighed 230 kilos, was working towards them in a threatening method and will have inflicted nice bodily hurt, Dordick stated. Additionally they referenced a suicide observe present in Sullivan’s pockets after his dying as a justification for the taking pictures, he stated.
“This was a foul taking pictures and they need to have accepted duty and discovered from it,” Dordick stated in an interview. “As a substitute, they gave inconsistent statements and false statements concerning the taking pictures.”
Dordick and his staff argued that the officers used deadly drive towards a person who didn’t current a lethal risk. Additionally they identified that Sullivan was within the midst of a psychological well being disaster on the time.
“The household has to just accept duty for the wrongful conduct of David Solomon and what function he performed,” Dordick stated. “However on the similar time, the officers want to just accept duty and be held accountable for what they did.”
Dordick stated he expects the defendants to file an attraction.
