Sailor Shot by Deputy Files Suit for Damages

Petty Officer 2nd Class David Tollerson filed a civil lawsuit Wednesday against the County of San Diego and Sheriff’s Sgt. Gordon Brooke, seeking to recover unspecified damages for injuries he sustained during a Sept. 13 shooting in Santee.

Tollerson, 34, was shot in the stomach by Brooke after the head of the Sheriff’s Department vice team mistook a toy squirt gun in Tollerson’s hand for an automatic submachine gun.

The lawsuit, filed in San Diego County Superior Court by attorney Nelson Brav, alleges that Brooke and his fellow deputies “falsely described (Tollerson’s) conduct immediately preceding the shooting so as to make it appear to other law enforcement officials later investigating the incident that the shooting . . . was legally justified.”

Attempted Murder Claimed

Based on the officers’ statements, the district attorney’s office filed attempted murder and assault charges against Tollerson, who had been drinking heavily that night. He was acquitted of all counts by a Superior Court jury in March.

Tollerson claims that he and his fiancee, Donna McKittrick, were talking outside Brannen’s Place in Santee about 1 a.m. on Sept. 13 when two men jumped Tollerson from behind and shot him. The couple said they had no idea that the men were sheriff’s deputies until after Tollerson was wounded and handcuffed.

The four members of the sheriff’s vice squad, who told sheriff’s investigators they had been drinking that night but were never given blood tests, provided conflicting accounts of the shooting. Brooke and Deputy Michael Moreno testified that they walked to within five feet of Tollerson and repeatedly announced that they were sheriff’s deputies. Moreno said he stuck his revolver in Tollerson’s face, and Tollerson reacted by dropping the squirt gun and grabbing Moreno’s hand.

One Bullet Misfired

As Moreno and Tollerson struggled briefly over Moreno’s revolver, Brooke testified, he put his gun in Tollerson’s stomach and squeezed the trigger twice. One bullet went through Tollerson’s stomach; the other misfired.

The lawsuit alleges that Brooke and Moreno were negligent and careless by “approaching (Tollerson) in an improper manner, failing to adequately identify themselves and then prematurely using deadly force.”

The suit asks for general damages, punitive damages against Brooke and reimbursement of Tollerson’s lost Navy income, medical expenses and attorney’s fees.