Man Shot by Police Sues Newport Beach

A 26-year-old man shot in the back last weekend by a Newport Beach police officer has filed a lawsuit in federal court charging the city and the Police Department with negligence and violation of his constitutional rights.

City and police officials deny the allegations.

Ricky Patrick Miller, a Newport Beach limousine driver, was listed in serious condition Wednesday at Fountain Valley Regional Hospital and Medical Center, a hospital spokeswoman said.

Meanwhile, the Orange County district attorney’s office on Wednesday charged Miller with resisting arrest, battery on a peace officer, being under the influence of cocaine and being in possession of less than an ounce of marijuana.

In a lawsuit filed Tuesday in U.S. Central District Court in Santa Ana, attorney Marc L. Goldstein said that his client, Miller, was deprived of his constitutional rights when he was “shot at point-blank range in the middle of the back” and that police were negligent in not calling for immediate medical aid.

The suit seeks unspecified general damages.

Goldstein said Wednesday that Miller surrendered to police without resistance after being chased on foot early Saturday morning in Newport Beach following a traffic stop. A police officer then beat Miller with his baton before intentionally shooting him once in the back, Goldstein said.

Newport Beach police spokesman Robert Oakley and city attorney Robert H. Burnham both denied the allegations.

According to Oakley, two police officers investigating a burglary near 39th Street and West Balboa Boulevard stopped a car Miller was driving when they noticed its headlights were off. Miller got out of the car and was being frisked when he suddenly ran away. His unidentified passenger remained with police.

One police officer caught up with Miller and grabbed him. Miller spun around, hitting the officer’s drawn revolver and causing it to accidentally discharge, Oakley said. “Miller was treated immediately at the scene by paramedics,” before being taken to the hospital, Oakley said.

Goldstein said Wednesday that Miller panicked and ran after the officers stopped his car because he had two unpaid traffic violations in Los Angeles--for not wearing a seatbelt and speeding. The state Department of Motor Vehicles had no record of the infractions.

Goldstein and Newport Beach police also said Miller was on probation after serving time in a Texas prison for vehicle theft.

Miller’s right arm and hand are paralyzed as a result of the shooting, Goldstein said, displaying a photograph of Miller that showed a bullet wound just to the side of his spine. Newport Beach police originally reported that Miller had been shot in the shoulder, but Wednesday Oakley said Miller was shot in the back.

Oakley refused to name the police officer involved in the shooting but said the man had returned to active duty after being placed on administrative leave. He said a Police Department investigation of the shooting was continuing.

The county district attorney’s office also is investigating the incident, a routine procedure with all police officer-involved shootings.