Olango family files new claim in police shooting

On Thursday lawyers for Alfred Olango’s widow, Taina Rozier, and child held a news conference to announce legal steps taken against the El Cajon Police Department.

(Nelvin Cepeda/U-T )

The wife and daughters of Alfred Olango, the unarmed black man who was fatally shot in an encounter with police in September, filed a claim Thursday accusing the El Cajon Police Department of excessive force and negligence, saying the officers had no credible reason to use such violence against him.

It is the second claim to be filed in the shooting. A claim is a precursor to a lawsuit in state or federal court.

“We are here for one reason and one reason only: We don’t want another family to go through this,” Los Angeles-based attorney Brian Dunn said at a news conference in San Diego that outlined the legal strategy in the case.

“People always ask, what is the purpose of litigation? … The purpose of a lawsuit is to seek justice. And that comes when we break the cycle of violence and when we break the cycle of hatred and when we take steps to ensure that the killing stops.”

Olango’s sister Lucy, who filed the first claim, was the one who called 911 on Sept. 27 to report her brother was acting strangely and asked police to help. Her claim accuses Officer Richard Gonsalves of ignoring his police training on how to deal with mentally unstable people. He instead “aggressively confronted” Olango, the claim states.

According to the claim filed Thursday by Olango’s wife, Tania Rozier, and two daughters, he was not threatening anyone and was walking around in the parking lot of a taco shop when officers pulled up. According to police, Gonsalves fired his weapon within minutes when Olango took a shooting stance and pointed a cylindrical object at the officer. The object turned out to be a vaping device.

The family explained later that Olango was having a mental breakdown due to the death of a friend.

The claim further accuses the Police Department and city of failing to properly train its officers and said the death was the result of the agency’s unconstitutional policies and practices.

The city has 45 days to respond to the claim. If the city does not settle, then the family has six months to file a lawsuit against the city in state or federal court.

The family’s attorneys said that it has not yet been determined which court will be the proper venue.

Olango’s sister is being represented by San Diego attorney Daniel Gilleon, while Olango’s father is being represented by Los Angeles-based attorney Rodney Diggs. The father plans to file a federal lawsuit of his own in a few weeks, Diggs said.

Family members are represented by different attorneys because the causes of action each can sue under varies based on the law. The legal strategy will be a unified effort, and the cases may end up consolidating into one, said John E. Sweeney, an attorney representing Olango’s wife and children.

El Cajon spokeswoman Monica Zech declined to discuss the claim Thursday.

The attorneys, appearing alongside Olango’s family members, were optimistic that the coming legal action would elicit change in police procedures across the country.

“We believe and feel and know this could have been prevented, and that future Alfred Olangos may be able to look at what we’ve done and say thank you, because the tactical response will have been different,” Dunn said.

Gilleon noted that the public will have the benefit of the records and information that such lawsuits will likely produce.

“This is going to be the public’s lawsuit, too,” he said.

L.A.-based attorneys Sweeney and Dunn are heavy hitters when it comes to excessive force and racial discrimination cases in Southern California, and both practiced alongside the late Johnnie Cochran, whose defense of O.J. Simpson made him a household name.

Sweeney has won large awards against the LAPD and the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department in excessive force cases, including the case of a man who was shot in the back by a Los Angeles police officer during a dispute over a traffic ticket. The officer was prosecuted for the shooting.

In 2008, Dunn won a $1.3 million verdict for a client who was shot at 120 times by Los Angeles County sheriff’s deputies at the end of a slow speed chase. He was also part of lawsuits against police involving Reginald Denny, a trucker beaten during the 1992 Los Angeles race riots, and Black Panther Party member Geronimo Pratt.

In San Diego County, law enforcement agencies typically don’t settle lawsuits involving fatal officer-involved shootings. That doesn’t mean all get to trial. Some lawsuits get dismissed for various reasons or a judge issues a summary judgment ruling in favor of one side or the other.

Law enforcement agencies here are much more likely to settle lawsuits involving misconduct or injuries that don’t end in death, such as the civil suits brought against San Diego in cases involving former Officer Anthony Arevalos. He was convicted of sexual battery and served time in prison.

El Cajon won a recent lawsuit involving one of its officers.

Raymond Goodlow claimed he was unjustifiably shot twice in the face by an El Cajon police officer in January 2013. The city contended he was shot after he did not obey commands from the officer to stop, had his hands in his waistband and was acting in a threatening manner.

Goodlow sued the department for excessive force and negligence in San Diego federal court. A jury found in favor of the city after a four-day trial in April 2015. The case is being appealed to the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.

The National Action Network, a civil-rights group led by the Rev. Al Sharpton, and other activists and the family are seeking an independent review of Olango’s shooting and of the El Cajon Police Department by federal authorities. They plan to send a letter to Attorney General Loretta Lynch’s office in the coming weeks, said the network’s San Diego branch president, the Rev. Shane Harris. The group also plans to lead a march Nov. 29 in front of the federal building in downtown San Diego.

Staff writers Dana Littlefield and Greg Moran contributed to this story.

kristina.davis@sduniontribune.com

Twitter: @kristinadavis