The family of a 23-year-old man shot and killed by a Los Angeles County sheriff’s deputy filed a $10 million federal civil rights lawsuit Thursday against the deputy and the county.
One of the family’s attorneys, Dale K. Galipo, told reporters that he was seeking “justice” on behalf of Carlos Oliva-Sola and his parents involving the shooting on Sept. 10, 2013, as the restaurant supervisor was returning to City Terrace from a church music practice.
The lawsuit, filed in Los Angeles federal court, alleges that Deputy Anthony Forlano shot Oliva-Sola in the back, contradicting previous allegations that the victim faced deputies in a threatening manner when he was shot.
A spokeswoman for the sheriff’s department said the agency would not have any comment on pending litigation. A county spokesman said attorneys had not yet seen the lawsuit.
“He was shot in the back as he was running away,” said Luis A. Carrillo, co-counsel for Olga Sola, the victim’s mother. “This is the beginning of the road to justice.”
At the time of the shooting, deputies were responding to a domestic dispute call at about 1:30 a.m., when a local resident flagged them down and reported a man with a gun in the area, according to the sheriff’s department.
According to news reports at the time, two deputies spotted what they considered a suspect walking down the street and confronted him. The confrontation turned physical, authorities said, and the man apparently pointed a gun at deputies, who opened fire.
A four-block radius of City Terrace was shut down for hours during the investigation in which a gun was allegedly recovered.
The shooting “was a cowardly act,” Carrillo said at a press conference on the steps of the downtown courthouse.
Over the past 10 years, Forlono has been involved in seven shootings, Galipo said, adding that there are some 500 police-involved shootings annually in Los Angeles County.
“What is it going to take for the District Attorney’s Office to prosecute one of these officers?” Galipo said. “There are so many shootings. I’m not saying they’re all unjustified, but there are no consequences for the officers — and they know that. Who is going to police the police?”
Forlano was removed from patrol duty following the shooting, a sheriff’s spokesman said at the time, but his current status was not immediately available.
Galipo said that while deputies contend that a gun was recovered close to the shooting scene, “That will be disputed. The gun was found some distance from where the shooting took place.”
Oliva-Sola — who attorneys said had no significant criminal record — posed “no imminent threat to the deputy,” Carrillo said.
The victim’s mother told reporters that she was notified of her son’s death in a “very cold manner” when a deputy came to her door and said her son had been shot after a “confrontation” with deputies.
“I was in shock,” Sola said, adding that she was sure her son was unarmed and on his skateboard when he first encountered deputies on the night of his death.
“I couldn’t believe it,” she said. “I don’t want this to happen to other families.”
Several months after the shooting, a rally took place at the East Los Angeles County Sheriff’s station to draw attention to the incident.