SIMI VALLEY : Man Shot 13 Times Sues 2 Officers

Two Simi Valley police detectives were named in a $30-million lawsuit filed Thursday in federal court in Los Angeles by a man they shot earlier this year.

Detectives Gene Hostetler, 46, and John Parks, 31, were named in the lawsuit filed by former truck driver David Childress, 30, who was shot 13 times in front of his Hollywood hotel room after he pulled a gun on the pair of detectives.

Simi Valley City Atty. John Torrance and Simi Valley Police Department spokesman Sgt. Bob Gardner said they could not comment on the case.

Torrance did say, however, that the city would investigate the incident, but also planned to defend the officers against the lawsuit.

Before the April 27 incident, Childress had two outstanding warrants, one on unspecified drug charges, police said at the time. A day after the shooting, Simi Valley’s acting police chief, Richard Wright, called the shooting “fully justified” and said the officers did an “excellent job.” Police in Simi Valley and Los Angeles launched investigations into the incident.

Although the lawsuit does not dispute that Childress pulled a gun, it alleges that the detectives never identified themselves as police officers and were lying in wait for him.

Childress, who was living in the hotel, is recovering from the multiple bullet wounds and still faces criminal assault charges, said Richard Hamlish, his attorney.

In his lawsuit, Childress alleges that Hostetler had once had a relationship with a woman whom Childress eventually married. He alleges that Hostetler has always been upset that Childress married the woman, a former police Explorer Scout, and that the detective was lying in wait for him in the hotel room with the intent of doing him harm.

“We’re saying it was premeditated,” Hamlish said.

Contacted at his home, Hostetler said he had heard about the lawsuit but was unfamiliar with most of its details.

“I’m not supposed to comment on the case, but since it’s Childress, it’s probably totally fabricated and false,” he said.

A court date has not yet been set for the case.