Family members of one of four people killed during a pursuit in Compton by sheriff’s deputies in 2013 are suing the county, court papers show.
Stacy Marie Gray’s husband, Taishaun Gray, and her mother filed the wrongful death and negligence lawsuit in Los Angeles Superior Court on behalf of themselves and the couple’s three daughters, who are now ages 12, 11 and 8. They are seeking unspecified damages.
A sheriff’s spokeswoman said she was still looking into the suit’s allegations and had no immediate comment.
Gray, 30, of Los Angeles was driving north on Wilmington Avenue in her 2003 Chevrolet Monte Carlo when it was broadsided about 12:25 a.m. on Dec. 14, 2013, by a red sedan heading west on Greenleaf Boulevard and being chased by deputies, according to the lawsuit.
Deputies said at the time that they responded to a report of multiple gunshots in the 100 block of Indigo Street and that witnesses said a red sedan was involved.
The suit filed Tuesday alleges the deputies’ pursuit was “reckless” and made with “deliberate indifference” to public safety.
“Throughout the entire chase, the public was in danger of death or serious injury from the ongoing chase, but the pursuit continued,” the lawsuit states.
The county should have adopted a policy outlining when deputies should or should not pursue fleeing vehicles and trained them according to those regulations, according to the complaint.
The driver of the car that struck Gray’s vehicle also was killed along with his passengers, one male and one female, the suit states.
— City News Service