The County of Orange is facing an excessive force lawsuit after sheriff’s deputies fired electroshock taser shots that killed an unarmed 23-year-old San Juan Capistrano man in August 2018.
On behalf of the victim’s relative, Los Angeles-based attorney Dale K. Galipo crafted an 11-count complaint for damages inside the Ronald Reagan Federal Courthouse.
According to Galipo, deputies “unlawfully detained” Andru Maldonado before deploying multiple electroshocks from a taser when the man was acting as if needed psychological help and committing no serious crime.
The attorney also reported that the officers “failed to timely summon medical attention” and that failure “further contributed” to [Maldonado’s] injuries and death.
“The delay of medical care caused decedent extreme physical and emotional pain and suffering,” Galipo, who specializes in police misconduct cases, wrote in the 24-page lawsuit.
A Youtube video posted by an observer showed Maldonado walking through stopped traffic congestion, waving his arms, behaving bizarrely and running in between cars from deputies.
Witnesses also told reporters that he’d been acting strange inside shops, where he complained of a leg injury.
He was shot after failing to comply with deputies’ orders, an Orange County Sheriff’s Department official explained following the unnecessary death.
Lawyers for the county have not yet filed a formal response to the lawsuit.
On the GoFundMe website, friends and well-wishers raised money to help pay funeral costs and celebrate Maldonado’s short life; he dreamed of becoming a medical assistant.
U.S. District Court Judge Josephine L. Staton will preside in the case.
During the last 15 years, police have used tasers to annually kill between 44 and 73 people nationwide.
CNN-featured investigative reporter R. Scott Moxley has won Journalist of the Year honors at the Los Angeles Press Club; been named Distinguished Journalist of the Year by the LA Society of Professional Journalists; obtained one of the last exclusive prison interviews with Charles Manson disciple Susan Atkins; won inclusion in Jeffrey Toobin’s The Best American Crime Reporting for his coverage of a white supremacist’s senseless murder of a beloved Vietnamese refugee; launched multi-year probes that resulted in the FBI arrests and convictions of the top three ranking members of the Orange County Sheriff’s Department; and gained praise from New York Times Magazine writers for his “herculean job” exposing entrenched Southern California law enforcement corruption.
nice work Scott
My son was tazed in our home for no reason. San Juan capistrano police were called to our home because my son was giving my husband and I trouble. Minor
Situation. All of a sudden the office tazed him and arrested him. My son was 15ft from the officer. Totally scared us and confused us. Can you help us or explain why this was done in a nonviolent situation in our home. After they arrested him the police dropped all charges against him. But the burn markes are still on him.
???? Huh ??? Someone has died.
Could you explain that outlandish remark for us all?
My son was tazed in our home for no reason. San Juan capistrano police were called to our home because my son was giving my husband and I trouble. Minor
Situation. All of a sudden the office tazed him and arrested him. My son was 15ft from the officer. Totally scared us and confused us. Can you help us or explain why this was done in a nonviolent situation in our home. After they arrested him the police dropped all charges against him. But the burn markes are still on him.
Wait, did you call the police yourselves?
An officer would not just come into your home and start tasing. What had taken place? Also, if it was a “Minor Situation”, as you stated above, then why would the police be there. Minor situations are handled between parties, no officer should be called if it was minor and manageable, kids need discipline and often lose their minds, as all of us young versions did at one point in our lives or the other. Most people need counselors, not legal authorities. Did you call the right folks to help maybe ? Story is somewhat vague I’m sorry. Also this is a serious matter of a guy’s death from being tasered. There was no one there to back him up and they just went ahead, so even moreso, if your son got tasered in your presence he must have been unrully and uncooperative or maybe mentally ill? Sad to hear, sorry that happened either way.
RIP to this 23yr old.
Lets stick to the subject here.
These “non lethal weapons” are basically defibrillators. There are differences in voltages and amperage
but none the less dangerous, hence the term, CLEAR. They pack a punch of energy to attempt to restart someones heart. 2 paddles greased with conductive gel as they do not penetrate the skin. They are used for 2 seconds maximum, with possible retrys. Tazers on the other hand penetrate your skin use your bodies natural internal resistance and without a doubt run the risk of stopping a normally functioning heart. I have seen them been used for a constant 10 seconds at a time with the user asking will you comply.
If the probes are placed near the vital organs, cardiac arrest could be eminent. They need to be modified. Law enforcement agencies use these tazers based on the operating procedures and manuals supplied by the manufacturer. I am sure that multiple SHORT discharges is one of them.
From what was reported he was non combative and non compliant. Next time maybe tackle and restrain him/she instead?
Maybe this is no longer an option in law enforcement standard operating procedures.
Good test with this method PLEASE DON’T DO THIS EVER IT WILL KILL YOU!
Plug your fingers into a wall socket and see if you can say the words I COMPLY 3 TIMES) Um no.
Lets stick to the subject here.
These “non lethal weapons” are basically defibrillators. There are differences in voltages and amperage
but none the less dangerous, hence the term, CLEAR. They pack a punch of energy to attempt to restart someones heart. 2 paddles greased with conductive gel as they do not penetrate the skin. They are used for 2 seconds maximum, with possible retrys. Tazers on the other hand penetrate your skin use your bodies natural internal resistance and without a doubt run the risk of stopping a normally functioning heart. I have seen them been used for a constant 10 seconds at a time with the user asking will you comply.
If the probes are placed near the vital organs, cardiac arrest could be eminent. They need to be modified. Law enforcement agencies use these tazers based on the operating procedures and manuals supplied by the manufacturer. I am sure that multiple SHORT discharges is one of them.
From what was reported he was non combative and non compliant. Next time maybe tackle and restrain him/she instead?
Maybe this is no longer an option in law enforcement standard operating procedures.
Good test with this method PLEASE DON’T DO THIS EVER IT WILL KILL YOU!
Plug your fingers into a wall socket and see if you can say the words ” COMPLY 3 TIMES” Um that’s not going to be an option.
^^^ The only thing some in our backwards society want the police to be are scapegoats for our own
self inflicted problems. These people, further, dial 911 expecting an omnipotent, all known being to arrive and are disappointed when a fellow human being knocks at the front door instead.