Galipo said that video of the incident does not support the claim that Sanchez was hit from behind and called the grand jury process “rigged from the start.” In announcing that there would be no charges against Sanchez, the district attorney said the officer believed that the blow to the back of his head delivered by Kenneth French was a gunshot and that he was under attack. Mike Hestrin could have filed charges despite the grand jury’s decision but said he would not do so because the minimum number of jurors - 12 of the 19 - didn’t find evidence to indict. Riverside County prosecutors in September announced they would not file criminal charges against Sanchez after a grand jury didn’t find evidence to warrant them. He was about 20 feet from the victims when he opened fire, police said. Sanchez was knocked to the ground and started shooting 3.8 seconds later, firing 10 times, according to the Riverside County district attorney’s office. Prosecutors and attorneys for Sanchez have said Kenneth struck him in the back of the head without warning or provocation. Paola French has said she believes Kenneth pushed or shoved the officer. The shooting, which took place in a food tasting line inside the warehouse store, sent shoppers running for cover.Īccording to the French family, they were shopping for Father’s Day and had stopped at a stand for sausage samples when Kenneth got into a physical altercation with Sanchez, who was holding his toddler. He said that the LAPD is continuing to conduct an administrative review of Sanchez’s actions and that Sanchez is assigned to home duty pending the investigation’s outcome. The LAPD can’t comment on open litigation, said Officer Jeff Lee, a department spokesman. Sanchez “worked for the LAPD, he was using their gun, he announced himself as a police officer and he acted in part based on his training with the LAPD, which we think is totally inadequate,” Galipo said. It also names as defendants 25 unidentified LAPD managers or supervisors. The lawsuit seeks wrongful-death damages, compensatory damages for personal injury and punitive damages for alleged violations of state civil rights statutes. The two will require medical care for the rest of their lives as a result of the injuries, Galipo said. In addition to losing their son, both Paola and Russell French required multiple surgeries, including one to remove Russell’s kidney. The lawsuit states that “Sanchez invoked his governmental status to influence the behavior of those around him” and that his “actions of identifying himself as being a police officer throughout the incident, including both before and after the shooting, was done with the purpose and effect of influencing the behavior of bystanders, plaintiffs and eyewitnesses.” “There should not be special privileges given to police officers, and we believe he was given many special privileges after this shooting,” Galipo said. He also was permitted to review surveillance footage from inside Costco before being interviewed by law enforcement, and he was allowed to accompany Los Angeles Police Department investigators on a walk-through of the store several days after the shooting to explain what happened, according to the complaint. “Instead, he was freely released without even being ticketed or cited for any crime,” the lawsuit states. He also failed to assist the three victims after he shot them, the lawsuit states.īecause Sanchez continued to identify himself as an officer to law enforcement agencies that responded to investigate the shooting, he was not arrested, according to the lawsuit. Sanchez identified himself as a police officer both before and after the shooting, leading bystanders to neither intervene in the use of force nor attempt to render aid to the injured family members, according to the complaint. The lawsuit states that Kenneth, Russell and Paola French posed no immediate threat to Sanchez because they were moving away from him at the time of the shooting, which is supported by surveillance video and the fact that Kenneth and Paola were shot in the back. According to the lawsuit filed in Los Angeles County Superior Court, Russell and Paola French told Sanchez that their son struggled with mental illness and pleaded with him not to shoot, but he did anyway.
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