Attorney, Family Members Of Unarmed Man Killed By Police In Gardena Speak Out
GARDENA (CBSLA.com) — Family members of an unarmed man who was fatally shot by police in Gardena spoke out on Wednesday.
Around 2:30 a.m. on June 2, 2013, a sergeant and three police officers were captured on video surrounding three unarmed men in the area of West Redondo Beach Boulevard and South Western Avenue.
According to the Gardena Police Department, authorities involved in the incident believed Ricardo Diaz-Zeferino and his two friends were suspects involved in a bike robbery.
Within the graphic video, Zeferino is seen moving his arms up and down as officers are heard yelling their commands.
Zeferino is then seen taking off his hat and appears to hold out his hands. The video then reveals officers shot him eight times. He was pronounced dead at the scene.
Officials said Zeferino's friend was also wounded in the incident.
According to police, the involved officers argued they could not see his hands prior to the shooting.
The family attorney for the Zeferino family explained the man was unarmed and tried to explain to police that they didn't commit the crime in question.
Prosecutors declined to charge the officers involved in the fatal shooting. However, the City of Gardena recently settled a civil lawsuit brought by the family for $4.7 million.
After a long legal struggle, a federal judge ordered the dash-cam video of the deadly police shooting to be released to the public on Tuesday. Both the Gardena Police Department and the City of Gardena did not wish for the video to be released to the public.
"There are lots and lots of things that go into appropriately judging an incident like this," said CBS Legal Analyst Steve Meister. "The videotape is only one aspect of many."
At 11 a.m., the Zeferino family spoke with their attorney in front of the federal court house in downtown Los Angeles.
They asked the U.S. Department of Justice to investigate the Gardena Police Department and the City of Gardena for their failure to investigate this shooting along with others.
CBS2's Dave Lopez spoke Wednesday with the chief of police in Gardena.
"We're looking at this [incident from the] perspective from the view of the camera," said Chief Ed Medrano. "This is not what the officers are seeing. We have nothing here to hide."
The three officers were not disciplined and remain on the job.