As trial nears of a lawsuit filed by a man who alleges he was wrongfully shot in one leg with a projectile by a Los Angeles police officer during the 2021 displacement of homeless people at Echo Park Lake, defense attorneys state in new court papers that video evidence disputes the plaintiff’s claim he was on the ground when struck.
Ethan Bochicchio’s Los Angeles Superior Court lawsuit alleges violation of his civil rights, battery, false imprisonment and negligence. He was one of many people present to protest the removal of those in the encampment.
But in a trial brief submitted Thursday with Judge Peter A. Hernandez, lawyers for the City Attorney’s Office state the events were recorded by officers’ body-worn cameras undermine his claim about where he was when he was hit by the beanbag fired by Officer Shane Thodesen.
“Plaintiff claims that he was on the ground when Officer Thodesen fired, (but) the video shows plaintiff was on his feet when he was struck,” according to the defense’s pleadings.
The City Attorney’s Office also stated in its court papers that Ed Flori, an expert hired by Bochicchio’s legal team will testify that the amount of force used against the plaintiff was “consistent with how officers are trained.”
According to the lawsuit, Bochicchio was at Echo Park Lake late in the evening of March 24, 2021, “exercising his right to peacefully protest against the removal of displaced and unhoused people.”
Bochicchio was unarmed and posed no threat to officers who formed a skirmish line, the suit states. He was standing near the front of the protesters when “suddenly, and without warning, the … police officers began assaulting and battering a female protester who Mr. Bochicchio met earlier that evening,” according to the complaint brought in January 2022.
When Bochicchio tried to stand next to the female protestor, whose nickname was “Knuckles,” the police officers shoved him with a baton and pushed him face-down to the ground, the suit states. An officer then shot him in one leg with a projectile, the suit states.
Bochicchio “writhed in pain” as others tried to help him leave, but the blockade formed by the officers prevented him from doing so, according to the suit.
After the blockade ended, people helped Bochicchio to his car and he was able to leave, the suit states.
“The police officers who fired at Mr. Bochicchio had absolutely no reason to believe that (he) was armed, dangerous or creating a serious threat to anyone’s safety so as to justify any use of force, let alone less-than-lethal force,” the suit alleges.
Bochicchio alleges the LAPD failed to properly train the officers on when non-lethal projectiles can be used against protesters. Bochicchio obtained care from medical doctors, psychologists and psychiatrists and has incurred medical bills and expenses, the suit states.
But according to the City Attorney’s Office’s court papers, “Knuckles” was shining a light into the eyes of the officers on a skirmish line near midnight and they decided to arrest her.
“Behind Knuckles was the crowd of protesters, including plaintiff, who had not left in response to the four dispersal orders,” the defense pleadings state.
Bochicchio was hit with the beanbag after he “moved toward and raised his hand toward Knuckles and the arresting officers,” according to the city’s court papers.
Trial of the case is scheduled Sept. 23.