The family of a young man who was fatally shot in Galveston two years ago while fleeing a traffic stop has filed a federal lawsuit against the city and the officer who shot him.
Authorities said Luis Argueta, 19, was pulled over on June 25, 2018 in Galveston after leading police on a brief chase. After the car carrying him and his girlfriend stopped on the 5300 block of Avenue L, Argueta bolted from the driver’s seat toward a vacant lot between two houses, reportedly leaving a firearm in the vehicle. After giving a verbal command for Argueta to stop, authorities said, one of the officers pursuing him fired two rounds, striking and ultimately killing him.
Argueta’s family filed a wrongful lawsuit on June 26 in federal court against the city of Galveston and Officer Derrick Jaradi, a 10-year law enforcement veteran, who fired the shots that killed Argueta. The lawsuit seeks an unspecified amount of damages from the city, contending that Argueta’s civil rights were violated, which led to his death.
“He was shot in the back while fleeing the police,” said Ellyn Clevenger, one of the attorneys representing the Argueta family in the lawsuit. “ I don’t think there was any evidence suggesting he made any threatening moves towards the officers. He was just running away.”
A spokeswoman for the city of Galveston declined to comment on the lawsuit, citing the city’s policy of not giving statements on pending litigation.
The filing of the lawsuit comes as fired police officers face murder charges in the deaths of African-American men in Minneapolis and Atlanta. In the Atlanta case, 27-year-old Rayshard Brooks was shot twice after he stole an officer’s Taser and ran away, pointing it over his shoulder at an officer in pursuit.
In the Galveston case, Clevenger disputes the police account that Jaradi gave a verbal command for Argueta to stop before firing at him. She interviewed several eyewitnesses who claim that they never heard Jaradi give a command, the attorney said. Clevenger added that Jaradi’s body-camera footage, activated two minutes prior to the shooting, does not include audio for the first two minutes of the encounter. By the time the audio portion is activated, Clevenger said, Jaradi can be heard commanding Argueta to drop a weapon, but after he had already been shot,
“You do hear the commands ‘Drop the weapon,’ but you hear the commands after he’s been shot and he’s on the ground bleeding to death,” Clevenger said.
The circumstances that led to Argueta’s shooting remain unclear. At the time, Galveston County Sheriff Henry Trochesset, who was tasked with investigating the shooting along with county prosecutors, said he did not know what suspicious activity prompted city police officers to stop Argueta at a convenience-store parking lot before he led officers on a brief chase.
Argueta's girlfriend of three years, Maryann Luna, told the Houston Chronicle the day after the shooting that she and Argueta were driving back from Whataburger when they stopped at Sonny Food Mart on 50th and Broadway in Galveston. Argueta noticed a police vehicle had pulled up next to his car and began to get paranoid, Luna said.
Luna said she and Argueta quickly left the food mart and drove around trying to shake the police car. Argueta told Luna that he was worried because he had a gun on him. When they got to the corner of Avenue L and 53rd Street, Luna said, the police car ‘s lights began flashing, prompting Argueta to park in front of a small vacant lot in between two houses on Avenue L, and about 10 yards from her mother's house on the same block. Argueta then ran out of the car, leaving his gun behind, according to Luna.
Luna said that when Argueta started running, two officers emerged from the vehicle and shouted at him to stop before one of them fired.
Galveston police later confirmed that one weapon was recovered at the scene, but declined to say whether the firearm was loaded, where it was found, or to whom it belonged. Police officials also declined to say why Argueta was pulled over and what precipitated the shooting, citing an ongoing investigation.
Jaradi, 32, has been with the Galveston Police Department since June 2016 and has a total of 10 years of law-enforcement experience in the Houston area. The department said Jaradi had not been involved in a police shooting before this incident nor had he been disciplined while serving with the agency.
nick.powell@chron.com
"Stop" - Google News
June 30, 2020 at 08:55AM
https://ift.tt/3eJjELO
Family of young man killed while fleeing a traffic stop sues city of Galveston - Houston Chronicle
"Stop" - Google News
https://ift.tt/2KQiYae
https://ift.tt/2WhNuz0
Bagikan Berita Ini
0 Response to "Family of young man killed while fleeing a traffic stop sues city of Galveston - Houston Chronicle"
Post a Comment