Parents Drop Suit Against Sheriff’s Dept. in Teen’s Train Death

The parents of a 16-year-old Moorpark boy who was struck and killed by a train two years ago while running from police have dropped a wrongful-death lawsuit against the Ventura County Sheriff’s Department.

The parents of Drew Diederich sued the agency and its officers last year for allegedly violating their son’s civil rights.

The lawsuit claimed that deputies taunted the teenager while he was under the influence of a hallucinogen and allowed him to run into a dangerous area where he was hit by a train.

But a U.S. District Court judge threw out the case after ruling that even if Deputies Paul Ferruzza and Jeffrey Lawrence provoked Drew, such conduct does not amount to a constitutional violation of his civil rights.

Drew’s parents then brought a wrongful-death lawsuit in Ventura County Superior Court, which was dismissed Monday at the plaintiffs’ request.

Attorney Philip Erickson, who represented the department and its officers, said he wasn’t certain why the parents dropped the case, but the deputies feel vindicated. A continuation school student, Drew was one of four teens stopped by police on the night of May 23, 2000, in Moorpark. He died after jumping a fence onto railroad tracks and being hit by an oncoming train.