Man Shot by Deputy Is Cleared in Robbery

A Long Beach man who was shot three times by a sheriff’s deputy last week is not the robbery suspect police were seeking and will not face charges, an investigator in the case said Tuesday.

Investigator Jerry Jansen said Palema Matangi, 27, “sure looked like” a man who had committed a robbery last year at a home in North Long Beach, but that he had been cleared any wrongdoing. An investigation into whether the deputy, a 15-year veteran, was justified in the shooting was not complete, but Jansen said it “appeared” that it was. The deputy, who was not identified, said Matangi failed to keep his hands in his pockets as ordered after he was stopped near the North Long Beach house.

Matangi, who was in good condition at Long Beach Memorial Medical Center Tuesday with wounds to his hand, leg and stomach, told a reporter that he was on his way home and does not know why the deputy shot him.