Suit Filed in Officer-Involved Shooting Death

The family of a 26-year-old West Hills man who was shot to death by Los Angeles police as he rammed his truck into cars stuck in rush hour traffic filed a $50-million civil rights lawsuit Tuesday against the department, police commission and city officials.

The lawsuit alleges that LAPD Officer Timothy Olsen used “excessive force” and therefore violated Jose Luis Mendoza’s civil rights when he shot the man Dec. 1 underneath the Ventura Freeway overpass on Canoga Avenue.

Police have said that officers attempted to pull over Mendoza after he ran a stop sign, but that Mendoza refused to yield and led police on a 20-minute chase--at times driving on the wrong side of the road.

Mendoza drove underneath the overpass, clogged with evening commuter traffic, and began crashing into cars in an attempt to batter them out of the way so he could escape. Saying they feared Mendoza was a threat to officers and civilians, police shot him. His truck had already struck one officer on foot who was trying to stop him.

Stephen Yagman, an attorney who has waged a series of high-profile lawsuits against the LAPD, is representing the Mendoza family.

Yagman said Mendoza was bullied by an officer during the traffic stop and fled because he feared the officer was going to attack him.

He has talked to witnesses, Yagman said, who told him that “at the time the fatal shot was fired . . . the decedent was doing nothing to warrant the use of deadly force.”

Yagman said Mendoza was on a cellular phone trying to get help when he was shot. The lawyer would not identify who Mendoza called or say whether the person was a friend or relative.

Yagman said he sent a letter to U.S. Atty. Gen. Janet Reno requesting a federal investigation of the incident.

Los Angeles Police Lt. Anthony Alba, a department spokesman, said he could not comment on the case because the investigation into the officer-involved shooting is continuing. Such investigations take about six months and the results are reviewed by an independent police panel and the police chief, he said.

“For Mr. Yagman, shortly after the shooting, as an attorney to accuse the LAPD or a member of the department of using excessive force . . . is highly inappropriate,” Alba said. “It serves no useful purpose to the community.”