HUNTINGTON BEACH : $10-Million Claim Filed Against City in Arrest
A Westminster man has filed a $10-million claim against the city this week, alleging negligence and defamation after police arrested him last year on suspicion of attempted murder.
Shaun McCarthy, 30, was acquitted of the charge in January in Superior Court in Santa Ana.
McCarthy contended the March 7, 1994, shooting at his Huntington Beach specialty auto shop for racing cars was in self-defense.
McCarthy said the same man he had shot had broken into his business four days earlier, the same day police raided it. He said that police had suspected him of stripping parts from stolen vehicles. “They found nothing in the shop,” he said, nor did they arrest anyone in the break-in.
“If he was arrested (after the first break-in), the shooting would have never occurred,” McCarthy said.
Police would not comment on the case.
In his claim filed this week at the city clerk’s office, McCarthy said that he was wrongfully charged in the shooting. He said the arrest has ruined his reputation, caused financial losses and forced him to close his business.
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