Widow Files Claim Against Deputies in Vista Death

The widow of a Vista man, shot and killed May 18 after he backed into a sheriff’s patrol car, filed a claim Friday against the county, alleging that two deputy sheriffs “erroneously and mistakenly pursued and shot to death an innocent man who had committed no public offense.”

The claim is a precursor to an expected lawsuit that will seek $3.5 million in damages, said Gerald Davee, the attorney representing Lena Bray and the couple’s unborn child.

The coroner’s office, meanwhile, said Friday that no drugs were detected in Bray’s body. Tests showed that Bray’s blood contained 0.02% alcohol--about the equivalent of a beer.

Bray was shot and killed by reserve deputy sheriff John Wickham about an hour after Bray left his job as a construction worker in Vista. Wickham and deputy William C. Fewell had followed Bray’s pickup into a Vista apartment complex where Bray lived, believing--erroneously, it turned out--that Bray was driving a stolen vehicle.

Bray stopped his truck in the apartment complex, then backed into a patrol car that had stopped about 20 feet behind him, according to witnesses and the Sheriff’s Department. Wickham, who had just got out of the patrol car on the passenger side, fired his 9mm-semiautomatic pistol at Bray three times, hitting him fatally in the head, as the pickup collided with the patrol car.

A witness said Bray had stopped his vehicle to talk to him, and didn’t know the patrol car was behind when he backed up to talk.

The claim against the county alleges that the deputies shot to kill without warning or proper cause to do so. “The county of San Diego promulgated policy, regulation and directives, or inadequately trained, supervised and disciplined the officers, so as to result in them shooting to death an innocent man, and depriving him of his constitutional rights,” it says.

The claim doesn’t seek a specific amount of damages, but asks for compensation for damage to the car, funeral expenses and the loss of Bray’s financial support to his family, in addition to damages for Bray’s “wrongful death.”

“This is a claim that should be admitted by the county, and the amount of the claim can then be negotiated,” Davee said. “I don’t think any reasonable person can feel an officer is entitled to shoot an innocent man who has no weapon and is not being a threat to him.

“Filing the claim gives them the theoretical opportunity to settle the case, but I’ve never had a claim admitted by the government,” Davee said.

A spokesman for the county counsel’s office, which will review the claim and give a recommendation to the County Board of Supervisors, said Friday he had no comment.