Local News in Brief : L.A. to Pay $775,000 for Errant Police Shot

The family of a 19-year-old San Fernando man who was accidently shot and killed by a Los Angeles police officer in 1980 will receive $775,000 in an out-of-court settlement approved Tuesday by a City Council committee.

The Finance Committee voted unanimously to pay the settlement rather than risk losing a greater sum in court in a wrongful-death suit filed by the parents and 6-year-old daughter of Kenneth Randolf Ramirez.

If approved as expected by the City Council and Mayor Tom Bradley, most of the settlement money--about $525,000--will go into a series of payments to the daughter, Selina Ramirez. David and Lena Ramirez, the parents, will receive a one-time sum of $250,000.

Assistant City Atty. Philip J. Sugar told the committee that a jury would probably find the city negligent.

Ramirez was shot in the head on Oct. 16, 1980, as he stood next to his father’s car, which was parked outside the family home in San Fernando. Officers investigating a purse-snatching had pulled up near him in a patrol car, Sugar said. An officer got out of the car, drew his gun and accidentally squeezed the trigger, killing Ramirez with a single bullet, Sugar said.

Ramirez’s parents, who came out of the house to find their son in the street, received their $250,000 for emotional distress.

Selina Ramirez will receive payments of $1,500 a month until she reaches age 18, $2,000-a-month thereafter, and four other lump sum payments ranging from $10,000 to $50,000. The girl’s mother was not married to Ramirez, and an appellate court ruled that she could not bring a wrongful-death suit against the city, Sugar said.

The officer who shot Ramirez, Wendell E. Rhinehart, an eight-year veteran of the department, quit the police force a year after the shooting, Sugar said.