Claims Filed in Holdup by Slain Deputy : Legal Action: Sheriff’s Department failed to provide adequate supervision, victims of robbery attempt allege.

The two victims of a robbery attempt by slain Sheriff’s Deputy Michael Stanewich each filed claims Wednesday against the county, alleging that the Sheriff’s Department was negligent for failing to adequately supervise Stanewich.

Stanewich, wearing a stocking mask, forced his way at gunpoint into the Encinitas home of Donald Van Ort, 32, and his 82-year-old grandmother, Helen, on July 3.

Donald Van Ort was handcuffed, doused with lighter fluid and beaten as Stanewich demanded the combination to his safe, containing about $100,000 in cash.

Deputy Gary Steadman, who worked at the same substation as Stanewich, responded to a 911 call and fatally shot Stanewich--whom he didn’t recognize--as Stanewich reached around for something, possibly a knife that was lying nearby, according to the Sheriff’s Department.

The claims, filed by attorney Dwight Ritter, ask for more than $10,000 for “medical expenses, severe emotional distress, loss of comfort and security, mental anguish, pecuniary loss and property damage.”

A claim for more than $10,000 means that a plaintiff is seeking to take the case to Superior Court if the claim is rejected. The county and city routinely reject hundreds of claims each year as unreasonable, but claims must first be filed before a lawsuit is initiated.

The Sheriff’s Department disavowed Stanewich and said his presence at the Van Ort home was unrelated to his law-enforcement activities.

But, because he had appeared at the home twice before, once during a drug raid and the next day outside the home, Ritter said the department is responsible for his actions during his third, and fatal, visit, in which he handcuffed and beat Van Ort.

“It was through the department’s authorization of (Stanewich) as a San Diego County deputy that put him in the place he was in,” Ritter said. “He gained access to that house twice under the color of law and color of authority, and gained tremendous information about the people who lived there, including information about their possessions and valuables.”

The Sheriff’s Department has concluded its investigation of the incident, passing along two bound volumes of information to the district attorney’s office. The district attorney will decide whether Steadman was legally justified in shooting Stanewich.

Sheriff Jim Roache said Wednesday he had not reviewed the claim but disagreed that the department was responsible.

“The only thing I can say, based on the information I have, is that Deputy Stanewich was performing outside the course and scope of his duties,” Roache said. “Certainly, the county of San Diego and the San Diego County Sheriff’s Department have no liability.”