Posted on 07/20/2005 8:49:43 AM PDT by holymoly
Man who was shot by deputies during a Harbor Gateway shootout gets $70,000 for his injuries.
A roofer mistakenly shot by sheriff's deputies during a chaotic gunbattle in Harbor Gateway last year has been awarded $70,000.
The county Claims Board approved the settlement on Monday for Ricardo Oliva, who was holding a mop while working atop a building. Deputies suspected he might be a sniper preparing to shoot them.
"He was very lucky and gives daily blessings to himself and his family that his life was spared," said Oliva's attorney, Steven Lerman. "He is a good guy and was basically in the wrong place at the wrong time."
A day after the March 31, 2004, shooting, Sheriff's Department officials called the shooting of Oliva an "unfortunate accident" at the conclusion of a chase in which the driver jumped out of his car and began firing at deputies with an assault weapon.
Deputies had been following Salvador Mosqueda, 32, from Carson after his mother said he was suicidal and had threatened his girlfriend. On Normandie Avenue at Torrance Boulevard, he began shooting at officers with a rifle capable of firing 100 rounds in a minute.
Deputies returned fire and killed him.
Sheriff's officials admitted from the beginning that three deputies who heard the shots but could not see the gunfire from the other side of a building confused roofers atop Melody Liquor for gunmen.
They fired, wounding Oliva.
"The sheriff's deputies, believing Mr. Oliva was a sniper involved in the shooting that had just occurred, fired at him, striking him twice in the arm," the Claims Board report said.
"After he was removed from the roof, the sheriff's deputies learned that he was a roofer and was using a long-handled hot mop on the roof."
The Claims Board report, written by Assistant County Counsel Roger H. Granbo, said that although the person on the roof with a mop could have been perceived as a threat, a jury "could find that the sheriff's deputies' actions were unreasonable under the circumstances."
The settlement, the report said, would save litigation costs and avoid a larger payout.
Lerman called the deputies' actions a "comedy of errors"
"He was a victim of inappropriate conduct by the sheriff's deputies," Lerman said. "He still has scars and difficulty with his arm."
Good thing the deputies were bad shots, huh?
We settled out of court. The insurance company's att'y looked at settlements in similar cases and decided they'd save a whole bunch of money by folding early.
It is California, after all...
He was shot in error. Cops make them all the time. They are not brain surgeons, else they would not be cops. If what the cop did was intentional rather than a mistake he should be in jail. That is justice. Having to pay out several million dollars for a mistake is not.
I didn't say they should "pay out several million dollars."
I said that $70,000 for being mistakenly shot by the police is not fair and just compensation.
Life is full of unfairness and injury. And most of us don't get paid when it happens.
Tell me, John Q. Public hears shooting and shoots an innocent man on a roof, will he get charged? The standard should be the same.
I used to be a roofer.
No. $70,000 is NOT a tidy sum.
Roofing is a tremendously physically demanding profession. It can also be one of the highest paid labor jobs on the market.
If the man suffers any long term effects from the gunshot wound, it will hurt his chances to earn a living at his profession for the rest of his life.
True, life is "full of unfairness and injury," but we are not talking about unfairness or injury, but rather a MAN WHO WAS WRONGFULLY SHOT BY THE POLICE! Egads man, you can't tell the difference between slipping on a wet spot in Krogers and being shot by a cop?
But in the case of a couple of dead boys, there is not a better option.
"We know we killed you son, mam, so you can pick two of your choice out of the foster care system. Deal?"
We have to give trained heart surgeons, and cops, some professional slack, else we won't have any.
...which is like, just about every rifle ever made, as long as it has any sort of magazine...
Invalid point. A doctor is contracted to operate. Cops are not empowered to shoot innocent people. The guys made an unforgivable mistake and they should at least pay with their jobs.
Actually, my reply was directed at the apparent blood-lust, or should I say cash lust, that some posters feel the victim was entitled to. Those same folks will post on threads supporting limits to lawsuits and they gripe about government spending/taxes. Then they post on threads like this one saying someone should have gone after big bucks by suing a municipality.
They guy deserved more, yes - but not at the taxpayer's expense.
"...True, life is "full of unfairness and injury," but we are not talking about unfairness or injury, but rather a MAN WHO WAS WRONGFULLY SHOT BY THE POLICE! Egads man, you can't tell the difference between slipping on a wet spot in Krogers and being shot by a cop?..."
Reeses, we're not talking about a "Lottery Jackpot" for this man. The average roofer must smack a couple thousand nails a season using hammers and nailguns. Could you imagine the impact on his ability to do that (or similar jobs) after catching a couple bullets? If he is an average laborer an employer is not going to hold a position open while he completes physical rehabilitation for his injuries.
It would almost be worse if he was the owner/operator of the roofing company. His business could easily go down the tubes while he is recuperating. If he doesn't have trusted managers running the place the business could find itself belly-up in a matter of weeks. Small proprietorships can't absorb too many traumatic episodes without an experienced leader at the helm.
The simple fact-of-the-matter is that a man was standing on a rooftop (likely watching events unfold before him) when he started to receive incoming gunfire. Could you imagine the split-second of fright as you see the firearms being leveled in your direction?
~ Blue Jays ~
LOL
" If he's been trained as a heart surgeon, no, unless criminal intent was involved."
If then heart surgeon operates on the wrong patient, the appropriate charge is found in the State's negligence laws. Negligence is what's being ignored here. It was clearly present.
Go back and read again. The cops were not snipers; they thought the guy with the mop was one. They had radio reports of a man with a rifle at the location, heard shots fired, and saw a guy on a roof with a long object. They jumped to the wrong conclusion and shot him with their side arms, not a sniper rifle.
To the way a lot of police shot it looks like a lucky shot then.
An account from the time of the incident:
LOS ANGELES (AP) - Deputies who accidentally shot a roofer during a chaotic gunbattle after a car chase said they thought the unarmed roofer was a sniper about to fire down on them, the Sheriff's Department said.
Three deputies couldn't see five other deputies exchanging gunfire on Normandie Avenue with a man armed with an AK-47 assault rifle and they feared the man on the liquor store roof posed a threat to their lives, sheriff's Capt. Ray Peavy said Thursday.
He called the shooting of the roofer, who was wounded in the arm, an "unfortunate accident."
"They felt he was part of the problem and that he was actually involved in the shooting," Peavy said. "They knew he wasn't a cop."
Salvador Mosqueda, 32, of Carson, the man with the AK-47, was killed in Wednesday morning's gunbattle.
...and won $75,000.
Damn. I gotta move in next to you. ;-)
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