$120-Million Claim Filed in Disputed Police Shooting

The family of a South-Central Los Angeles man, who was shot to death by police on his porch after he called 911 to report a disturbance, filed a $120-million claim Monday against the city.

Police say Justice Hasan Netherly, 47, was killed after he confronted a police officer on his front porch. He was brandishing a large stick, police said, which the officer mistakenly thought was an ax.

But the attorney for Netherly’s family and a neighbor who said he witnessed the incident contend that the shooting victim did not have a stick and the officer was more than 25 feet away when he fired the fatal shot.

Netherly, who was killed April 25, had spent the evening at a Muslim mosque, said Cameron Stewart, the family’s attorney. When Netherly returned home he got into an argument with his brother, who was visiting. When his brother refused to leave, Netherly called police, Stewart said.

Police arrived a few minutes later, the attorney said, drove onto the front lawn of the duplex and jumped out of the car. Netherly, who was standing on his front porch, turned to close his front door, Stewart said. Netherly’s brother had left by then.

“He turned to close his door probably because people in the neighborhood sometimes feel uncomfortable about police . . . looking in their houses,” said Stewart, who works for the law firm of Johnnie L. Cochran Jr. “As he turned to close the door he was shot once in the chest.”

But according to a report of the incident compiled by Lt. William Hall, who heads the Officer Involved Shooting Team, police received a radio call “regarding a man armed with an ax causing a disturbance.”

Officer Steve Angulo, 34, who has been with the department five years, approached the porch and “observed the front door to be open and the interior of the room to be extremely dark,” according to the report. Angulo stepped onto the porch and “was suddenly confronted by a suspect . . . who rapidly exited the doorway and approached Officer Angulo, holding what appeared to be an ax handle over his shoulder. . . . The officer, believing he was about to be struck with an ax and in fear of his life, fired one round.”

Officers recovered “the weapon,” according to the account “and discovered it was a 3 1/2-foot length of round wood similar in size to an ax handle. Officers also recovered a shotgun just inside the doorway.”

The district attorney’s office is also investigating the shooting, said Lt. John Dunkin.

One neighbor provided an account of the incident to Stewart, which differed from the police version.

Bruce Allen, who lives across the street, said he was standing on the sidewalk talking to his brother-in-law when he saw police drive onto the lawn. He disagrees with the police account that the officer confronted Netherly on his porch.

“That policeman never was on that porch,” Allen said. “They got out of the police car and never said anything. They didn’t identify themselves as police officers. They didn’t tell anybody to stop.”

Before police arrived, Netherly had a long stick and was using it to protect himself while fighting with his brother, Allen said. But by the time police pulled up on the lawn, he had discarded the stick, Allen said. Friends of Netherly said the piece of wood he had struck his brother with was a Muslim prayer stick.

Stewart is seeking $20 million each for Netherly’s mother and his five children.