Jury Rejects Wrongful Death Suit In Case Of Man Paralyzed In Police Chase
LOS ANGELES (CBS) — A jury rejected a wrongful death lawsuit Monday brought on behalf of a 9-year-old girl whose father was shot at the end of a police pursuit. He was left paralyzed from the incident and died more than three years later.
The Los Angeles Superior Court panel deliberated about four hours before finding in favor of the city and Officer Jose Bonilla.
The suit was filed in March 2009 against the city on Alejandra Hurtado's behalf by her mother, Mayra Ballesteros.
The girl was three years old when her father, Omar Hurtado, was hit by one of 17 bullets fired at him after his car went out of control and hit a wall outside an apartment building near 65th and San Pedro streets about 1:15 a.m. on March 29, 2005. The bullet severed Hurtado's spinal cord.
Hurtado, then 19, was driving a stolen car. A male passenger in the car with Hurtado was uninjured.
Deputy City Attorney Denise Mills said Bonilla, the passenger in the lead pursuit vehicle driven by Officer Eric Rose, fired in self-defense because Hurtado's car was thrust in reverse and was heading back toward him at the end of the chase.
Rose and Officer Francisco Diaz, who was in one of two backup cars, also fired to protect Bonilla, according to Mills. All allegations against Rose and Diaz were dismissed before the case went to the jury.
Hurtado died on Dec. 5, 2008, at the age of 23. The lawsuit alleged his death was related to complications from the shooting and the paralysis, but Mills argued he died due to heart disease directly related to long-term drug abuse, especially methamphetamine.
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