OXNARD : Lawsuit Dismissed in Shooting by Deputy

A Ventura County Superior Court judge has dismissed a lawsuit filed by an Oxnard man who was left paralyzed when he was shot by a sheriff’s deputy two years ago.

In a summary judgment issued last week, Judge Barbara A. Lane dismissed the suit filed by Daniel Moreno against Ventura County and Deputy Linda Hagemann.

The county’s attorney, Alan E. Wisotsky, said Moreno was one of four men who went to a Camarillo shoe store in February, 1990, to beat up the assistant manager, who was seeing Moreno’s ex-wife.

The assistant manager called 911 and Deputy Hagemann was the first officer on the scene. She saw the four suspects fleeing from the store and yelled “Freeze!” Wisotsky said. Moreno started to turn toward Hagemann, and the deputy, fearing he might have a weapon, fired a blast from the shotgun.

One of the pellets hit Moreno in the skull, Wisotsky said. Moreno, now 26, is paralyzed on the left side and is confined to a wheelchair, the attorney said.

In her ruling, Lane said the defendants had established all of the legal elements needed to show that the shooting was justified. The district attorney’s office investigated the shooting and decided that no criminal charges were warranted.

Moreno’s attorney, Curtis Chapman Simpson III, could not be reached for comment, but his assistant, Darla Kelly, said an appeal will be filed.