Ex-Officer’s Lawsuit Calls Firing Improper

A former Orange police officer whose fatal shooting of an unarmed man resulted in a $250,000 award for the victim’s children in 1992 is suing the city, claiming he was improperly fired later.

Jeffrey Mundt was fired last March 31 following allegations that he faked a back injury in January, 1994, and filed a false workers’ compensation claim.

Mundt appealed his firing but a hearing officer sided with the city, concluding in October that Mundt was guilty of “disgraceful conduct” and making misleading statements.

The lawsuit, filed Tuesday in Orange County Superior Court, asks the city to reinstate Mundt and pay back wages dating to March 31.

Mundt alleges in the suit that City Manager David F. Dixon fired him without a fair hearing and failed to prove misconduct that would warrant firing.

The city alleged during the October hearing that Mundt had staged an injury to his lower back during a traffic stop after asking another officer to witness the feigned mishap. Mundt denied those charges. He argued at the hearing that the firing was based in part on this having been fired from the Los Angeles Police Department before being hired in Orange.

In a March 31 memo outlining Mundt’s firing, Orange Police Chief John R. Robertson noted that when Mundt appealed his previous termination, a hearing officer said: “The Department cannot afford to have employees who demonstrate excessive force and dishonesty this early in their careers.”

Mundt’s last court battle came in 1992, when a judge ordered the city of Orange to pay $250,000 to the children of a 27-year-old man shot and killed during a domestic dispute two years earlier.

A Superior Court jury determined then that Mundt had used excessive force when he shot Ramon Ibarra on Oct. 9, 1990, while responding to the dispute at Ibarra’s home. Ibarra had gone into a rage and threatened his wife.

When Mundt arrived, Ibarra verbally challenged him and threw two pieces of a broken fan at the officer, causing minor injuries. A week earlier, Mundt had responded to another domestic dispute at the Ibarra home, and Ibarra had threatened to kill the officer the next time the two met.

Mundt contended he fired his weapon because he mistakenly believed Ibarra had a gun. Though jurors held Mundt responsible, they did not believe he acted maliciously.