Deputy kills youth at housing project
Aug. 3, 1991: Sheriff’s Deputy Jason Mann fatally shot 19-year-old gang member Arturo “Smokey” Jimenez at the Ramona Gardens housing project in East Los Angeles.
The shooting touched off a melee in which about 300 residents threw rocks and bottles, The Times reported.
According to the official account, Mann and Deputy Dana Ellison were chasing a speeding car when someone threw a bottle at their vehicle. When they got out to investigate, they said, Jimenez assaulted Ellison with a beer bottle, took his flashlight and knocked him unconscious. Mann ordered Jimenez to drop the flashlight and fired when he didn’t, they said.
Witnesses said Jimenez argued with the deputies but never struck anyone.
An internal Sheriff’s Department investigation found that the deputies acted within guidelines for the use of deadly force.
But the county ultimately settled a wrongful-death lawsuit, paying $450,000 to Jimenez’s family.
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