The household of a person killed by a Downey police officer in a car-on-pedestrian crash in October is suing the town of Downey and alleging that officers tried to cowl up a deadly hit-and-run.
Raymond Lavalle, 48, was hit by a Downey Police Division officer close to the San Gabriel River Path in Santa Fe Springs on Oct. 2, in keeping with the Whittier Police Division, which is accountable for policing within the space. The crash happened about 8:42 p.m., and Lavalle was pronounced useless shortly after Whittier police arrived on the scene at 9 p.m.
Lavalle’s household says the Downey police officer knowingly fled the scene of the crash, whereas the town of Downey states that the officer was unaware an individual had been hit.
On Thursday, Lavalle’s mom, Luisa, and his three sons, Joseph, Raymundo and Matthew, filed a wrongful dying lawsuit towards the town in Los Angeles County Superior Court docket.
The Whittier Police Division investigated the crash and beneficial that the officer concerned be charged with vehicular manslaughter and hit-and-run inflicting dying, in keeping with division spokesperson Officer Emily Armstrong. Lavalle was unhoused and dwelling within the riverbed on the time of the collision.
The L.A. County district legal professional’s workplace declined to file prison prices, concluding that the crash was a “tragic accident” ensuing from Lavalle “laying on the sting of the roadway and creating an unsafe situation for himself, and [the officer] being unable to see in time to take evasive motion.” The D.A.’s workplace mentioned no proof was discovered that the officer was driving in a negligent method or that the officer was conscious that somebody was hit.
Lavalle’s household alleges that the officer, whose id it doesn’t know, was rushing when Lavalle was hit and that the officer was not responding to any emergency or name for service. The household alleges that the officer fled the scene with out stopping to render support, as is required by regulation, and that Downey then tried to cowl up the incident by failing to difficulty a information launch or notify the household.
“This household was stored at midnight for a lot of months in regards to the circumstances of the dying of their father from this division as a result of they by no means contacted this household to allow them to know {that a} Downey Police Division officer, whereas on responsibility, struck, killed and left him there to die like a canine,” legal professional Michael Carrillo mentioned at a Tuesday information convention saying the lawsuit.
The town pushed again on the household’s allegations, saying that the police officer was pursuing a suspect on the time of the crash and was unaware {that a} pedestrian was struck.
“The collision occurred at low velocity in a darkish space with poor visibility whereas the officer was pursuing a suspect who was actively evading the police,” the town mentioned within the assertion. “After turning southbound from Telegraph Highway into an entrance to the San Gabriel River Path, the officer’s automobile struck a pedestrian seated within the roadway. The officer was not conscious of the collision, and the sufferer was later pronounced deceased on the scene.”
In line with the D.A.’s workplace, the officer was captured on dashboard digicam footage inspecting the entrance of the automobile round six minutes after the deadly collision. The workplace maintains that the officer might have moderately believed the automobile struck litter or particles within the roadway.
The patrol automobile that struck 48-year-old Raymond Lavalle didn’t present harm from a collision, the district legal professional’s workplace says. A digicam within the automobile is circled in purple.
(L.A. County district legal professional)
“There was no discernible harm to the entrance of the patrol automobile … nor was there any blood or human tissue seen,” the workplace wrote in a report on the dismissed prices.
The household alleges that the officer hit Lavalle whereas he was strolling together with his bike down a driveway towards the San Gabriel River, inflicting Lavalle to be quickly lodged beneath the automobile. Lavalle suffered a collapsed chest cavity, quite a few abrasions on his arms, legs, torso and face, a reduce to his proper hand and a damaged wrist, in keeping with the D.A.’s workplace.
“I do know my father would offer you his final greenback, provide the garments off his again, offer you his final meal, no matter it was, he’d give it to you as a result of he cared that a lot about everyone,” Joseph Lavalle mentioned at Tuesday’s information convention. “I do know whether or not he was in the identical state of affairs, he would have positively stopped and cared for him prefer it was his personal brother.”
The household is in search of compensatory, common and particular damages in an quantity to be decided at trial, in keeping with the criticism. It’s also in search of punitive damages towards the Downey police officer as soon as his or her id turns into identified.
