Parents of Boy Killed by Santa Ana Officer File Lawsuit : Police: Fatal shooting occurred after street encounter between 15-year-old victim and rival gang members.

The parents of a 15-year-old boy who was fatally wounded by a Santa Ana police officer during a 1992 gang battle filed suit Tuesday against the city and the Police Department.

Jose DeJesus Jimenez was shot twice in the back by Officer Steven Serrano, according to the suit, after the teen-ager fled a gang fight near First and Flower streets. Jimenez died several days later of his wounds.

Police declined to comment on the suit Tuesday.

At the time of the shooting, police said Jimenez was affiliated with a local gang that had signed a peace pact, but rival gang members he encountered were not part of the agreement.

After first being accosted and threatened at the intersection by a person who identified himself as a gang member, according to the suit, Jimenez jumped into a passing car as other gang members pursued him.

Shots were fired at the car as it sped away, causing a collision with another car, the suit said. Jimenez jumped from the car and ran to a convenience store parking lot. He was crouching behind a parked car when he was shot, the suit alleges.

Police spokesmen said that Jimenez spun around and pointed a small-caliber gun at Serrano, prompting the officer to fire.

The Jimenez family attorney, Rudolfo Ginez Jr., said there was no forensic evidence to connect the teen-ager with the weapon that police reportedly found near his body.

After an investigation, the district attorney’s office declined to file charges against Serrano.

Authorities said Jimenez had been expelled from Santa Ana High School and was attending Yorba School, a continuation school, at the time of the shooting. A Jimenez family member confirmed that the youth had served a 60-day term in Juvenile Hall for gun possession.

In a 1990 case involving Serrano, the city of Santa Ana paid $150,000 to settle a brutality claim made by a man who claimed the officer broke his jaw during an arrest for gun possession.