County approves $25-million settlement for deaf, autistic man shot by deputies in his living room

Three years after a sheriff’s deputy fatally shot an unarmed deaf and autistic man in the living room of Cudahy’s family home, the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors agreed to pay the family a $25 million settlement. dollars.

Isaias Cervantes was left permanently paralyzed following the March 2021 shooting, which took place just feet from his mother, sister, therapist and twin brother, who has cerebral palsy.

On Tuesday, the family’s attorney, Austin Dove, told the Times that settling the family’s lawsuit against the county could help them all move forward.

“They’re at a point where they now feel some semblance of hope,” Dove said. “They feel a form of relief.”

The multimillion-dollar settlement represents an unusually large sum, even for the lawsuit-prone Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department, which last year — between settlements, judgments and legal fees — cost taxpayers $150 million defend.

Despite the high amount of compensation paid in the Cervantes case, the Sheriff’s Department determined that the deputies involved – David Vega and Jonathan Miramontes – did not violate any policy by using force. A corrective action plan did not reveal that more significant changes were needed to prevent future problems.

In a statement Tuesday evening, the department reiterated that its internal review found no violations of its policy.

“Any call for service that results in a shooting is traumatic for everyone involved and an additional layer of complexity is added when we encounter someone who is experiencing a mental health crisis,” the statement said, before emphasizing the importance from the department’s specialized mental assessment teams – who were not called to the scene before the 2021 shooting.

“We continue to educate staff on the importance of using resources and responses from the ministry’s mental assessment team when available,” the ministry concluded.

The attorney representing Vega had no comment Tuesday, but Tom Yu — who represents Miramontes — expressed dismay.

“This use of force was provoked solely by Mr. Cervantes, and not by the deputies involved,” he said. “I am totally disappointed that the county has given up on defending deputies who are doing their job.”

On March 31, 2021, around 9 p.m., Cervantes’ sister called 911 to report that her brother – who she said was mentally disabled and hard of hearing – was being aggressive towards their mother.

“He is here in the house,” she said, according to a recording released by the sheriff’s department. “Can you guys send him to the hospital?” »

When East Los Angeles Sheriff’s Station deputies Vega and Miramontes arrived on the scene, Rosa Padilla – Cervantes’ mother – met them outside the house, according to police video. incident later released by the department.

She told officers that police had been to their home before and that her son had not been aggressive with them. She said he suffered from mental health issues and was taking medication. This time, she said, he was upset that she didn’t buy him a snack.

When the deputies Vega and Miramontes As they approached the front door, video showed one of them calling out to the 25-year-old, who was sitting on the living room couch. They asked him to come to the door, but he refused.

“You’re not under arrest but you’re giving me no choice but to put you in handcuffs,” a deputy told Cervantes from the door, without explaining exactly why he had to handcuff him.

Deputies then went inside, saying they were there to help. They asked Cervantes to stand up and each grabbed his arm. But when a deputy began handcuffing him, video showed Cervantes pulling his arm away and a struggle ensued. Both deputies’ body cameras went down but continued to record.

According to the sheriff’s department, Cervantes then “attacked one of the deputies by gouging his eyes while attempting to disarm him.”

One deputy shouted, “He’s going for my gun!” »

The other asked, “Does he have your gun?”

The recording does not show anyone answering this question. However, a few seconds later, one of the deputies — later identified as Vega in county records — fired a shot into Cervantes’ side.

Afterward, deputies continued to try to subdue Cervantes until one of them announced, “I took his hand off, I took his hand off my belt.” »

In the background, Cervantes groaned.

On Tuesday, Dove told the Times that the claim that his client grabbed a gun was “a complete fabrication” and that it would have been virtually impossible for the much smaller Cervantes to wrest the gun from the holster secure from the deputy. During deposition testimony for the trial, Dove added: Vega admitted that he did not see Cervantes with the gun when he opened fire.

After the shooting, Cervantes spent a month in the hospital, where he underwent several surgeries. But the bullet permanently damaged his spine, leaving him in a wheelchair and “physically paralyzed for the rest of his life,” according to the lawsuit filed nearly three years ago in Los County Superior Court. Angeles, seeking unspecified general and punitive damages.

The shooting sparked calls — including from the Cudahy City Council — for an independent investigation and further protests over how police respond to mental health calls. In the corrective action plan attached to this week’s settlement motion, the county admitted that neither deputy attempted to call the department’s mental evaluation team, designed to help de-escalate interactions with people suffering from mental illnesses and to avoid the use of force.

“It’s just not right,” said Yajaira Cervantes, Cervantes’ sister. said in 2021. “I would like them to be better trained officers who know how to deal with disabilities.” Unlike many others high-profile shootings mentally ill by deputies in recent years, Cervantes survived, was later charged with assault and resisting arrest. Court records show criminal charges against him were dismissed in early 2022.

Ultimately, prosecutors declined to charge the officers involved in the shooting, records show.

Even so, one of them – Miramontes – is now embroiled in legal trouble in another case that seemed on its way out but has since been revived by a California appeals court.

In August 2021, prosecutors charged Miramontes and Deputy Woodrow Kim with lie to hide an assault on duty. They were each charged with one count of filing a false report about a September 2018 incident in which Kim allegedly ran over a suspect with the door of his patrol car.

He and Miramontes were chasing a fleeing suspect in Ruben Salazar Park in East Los Angeles, and Kim wrote in his report that he opened the car door to prepare to jump out and give chase on foot as They were getting closer to the suspect. At that point, Kim wrote, the man stopped running and Kim attempted to stop the patrol car to avoid a collision. The man then “approached our patrol vehicle and collided” with its door, after which he was “still standing.”

In his report, Miramontes did not mention the collision and instead wrote that the suspect attempted to “give up by suddenly stopping and turning toward us.”

According to prosecutors, The video shows the patrol car crashed into the suspect and threw him “several feet into the air.”

But at a preliminary hearing in 2022, Judge Ronald Coen threw out the case, finding there was not enough evidence.

At the time, the MPs’ lawyers both welcomed the decision. Josh Ritter, who represented Kim, said that “one could easily argue that what is shown on this video is consistent with what they described.” Meanwhile, Yu said he believed the incident was treated as a crime only because the department did not complete its internal administrative investigation within the one-year statute of limitations.

But this year, after the prosecutor’s office appealed Coen’s decision, an appeals court overturned it and reinstated the case.

“We are pleased with the Court of Appeals’ decision to reverse the dismissal of the criminal charges against Deputies Kim and Miramontes,” the District Attorney’s Office said in a statement this week. “The Court of Appeal unanimously found that the evidence was indeed sufficient to proceed with the trial of the two deputies. We will continue to hold law enforcement accountable for their actions and look forward to a jury trial.

This week, Yu said he respected the court’s decision and was “ready to fight” again on his client’s behalf.

The significant settlement and newly reinstated case comes as the Sheriff’s Department faces the possibility of increased scrutiny ahead. A three-year civil rights investigation by the California Department of Justice is moving toward a sprawling settlement agreement.

The agreement is expected to address issues such as prison conditions and deputy gangs, and sources familiar with the matter told the Times that an initial state report included recommendations to reduce traffic stops, stop enforce certain drug laws and increase staff numbers. The department is already subject to five settlement agreements overseen by federal courts.