Burglary suspect's family sues city

By Harriet Ryan

Dec. 25, 2008 12 AM PT

The family of a suspected burglar who died in police custody filed a wrongful death suit against the city and the Police Department on Wednesday.

In the suit, brought in Los Angeles County Superior Court, the parents of De’Shoun Torrence allege police officers beat and used Tasers on the 18-year-old while he was handcuffed.

The suit contends officers beat him for 30 minutes. Torrence died in the back of a patrol car July 12, according to the suit, which seeks unspecified damages.

A police spokeswoman said it was department policy not to comment on civil suits.

Authorities said Torrence was hit with a shotgun butt by residents who restrained him while waiting for police to arrive.

Police said they used “necessary force.”

-- Harriet Ryan

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Harriet Ryan

Harriet Ryan is an investigative reporter for the Los Angeles Times. Since joining the paper in 2008, she has written about high-profile people, including Phil Spector, Michael Jackson and Tom Girardi, and institutions, including USC, the State Bar of California, the Catholic Church, the Kabbalah Centre and Purdue Pharma, the manufacturer of OxyContin. Ryan won the Pulitzer Prize for Investigative Reporting with colleagues Matt Hamilton and Paul Pringle in 2019. She and Hamilton won the Collier Prize for State Government Accountability in 2023. She previously worked at Court TV and the Asbury Park Press. She is a graduate of Columbia University.

Burglary suspect’s family sues city

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