Woman Sues Deputies in Son’s Death
The mother of a former Arcadia police officer who killed a sheriff’s deputy and then died himself during a fiery shootout at his home in Stevenson Ranch last year filed a federal lawsuit Thursday against Los Angeles County sheriff’s deputies.
Donna J. Beck accused the deputies of using excessive force against her son, James, 35, a felon who allegedly had stockpiled weapons inside the house.
The deputies, accompanied by federal agents, went to the house last Aug. 31 to serve a search warrant. They said Beck opened fire, killing Deputy Hagop Kuredjian.
When deputies lobbed a tear-gas grenade into the house, it caught fire and was engulfed in flames.
In her suit, Beck’s mother alleges that deputies allowed the two-story house to burn down and prevented firefighters from putting out the flames.
The suit accuses the deputies of civil rights violations, wrongful death, false imprisonment and negligence.
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