A bicyclist who was run down by a young man who went on a 2014 shooting rampage near UC Santa Barbara, then committed suicide, sued the killer’s parents as well as several government entities in Los Angeles.
Keith Cheung’s Los Angeles Superior Court lawsuit alleges negligence, false imprisonment and civil rights violations. He’s seeking unspecified damages.
Cheung was one of 14 people injured during Elliot Rodger’s May 23, 2014, Isla Vista shooting spree that left six people dead.
He had just finished a lifeguarding shift at the UCSB recreation center and was about a block away from home when Rodger, a 22-year-old former Santa Barbara City College student, drove down the street in his black BMW and hit Cheung from behind.
The suit filed Wednesday, names as defendants Rodgers’ father, British filmmaker Peter Rodger, and mother, Li Chin Rodger, both residents of Los Angeles County; along with the county of Santa Barbara, the Santa Barbara County Sheriff’s Department, and UCSB.
A representative for the Sheriff’s Department said she was unaware of the lawsuit and had no comment.
Cheung flipped into the air, went through the windshield and fell to the ground after the BMW crashed. Hs liver was damaged and he sustained lacerations and abrasions throughout his body, and facial and skull fractures, according to published reports.
The suit alleges Rodger’s parents should not have entrusted the BMW to him because he was mentally ill, and that the Sheriff’s Department failed to investigate Rodger despite his uploading of numerous videos on YouTube in which he was revealed to be a “vengeful, jealous and dangerous individual.”
Despite his injuries, Cheung was handcuffed by local authorities prior to being transported to a hospital in violation of his constitutional rights, the suit states.
— City News Service