Family of man fatally shot by LAPD files wrongful-death lawsuit against L.A. and police officers, including the chief
The family of a man killed by a Los Angeles Police Department officer, who is identified only by his first name, David, filed a wrongful-death lawsuit on Tuesday against the City of Los Angeles and Police Chief Charlie Beck. He was apparently shot twice in a foot chase and died from his injuries several days later.
The lawsuit claims that Beck and other officers who tried to help the man before he was fatally shot on July 11, 2007, were unlawfully involved in David Flores’ death. The lawsuit will go to trial on that claim in May.
The case, Flores v. City of Los Angeles, names both the city and Beck as defendants. A copy of the complaint that was sent to the City of Los Angeles is included at the end of this article.
If convicted, the officers can be found liable.
A source with knowledge of the case said the officers are likely to testify at trial that they believed David Flores was dead. The lawsuit claims that officers should not have been on the scene for more than three minutes after David’s fatal shooting, and that the officers’ failure to tell investigators that David was not breathing meant that the shooting was wrongful, according to the complaint.
According to the complaint, a Los Angeles County deputy sheriff arrived at the scene with the intent to get a statement from Flores to document the extent of his injuries, but he couldn’t be found.
‘I saw you and David in the lobby; you were unconscious, just sitting there,’ the source said she told Beck.
LAPD officers ‘had no reason to believe he was already dead’
Beck, who was the city’s police chief at the time, did not return requests for comment about the lawsuit.
As detailed in the complaint, the LAPD officers gathered on the sidewalk outside David’s apartment, and a sergeant
