The family of Luis Manuel García filed a federal lawsuit against the city of Los Angeles and the officers involved in García’s death in the LA County Superior Court on Jan. 20.. The lawsuit accused police of using excessive force and delinquency while handling the arrest of the 39-year-old on Aug. 9, 2021, ultimately killing him.
Filed nearly two weeks ago, the complaint names Tustin police officer Estella Silva, who fired at García, but does not identify the other two officers involved.
Despite the family contacting the Tustin police department to request the officers’ names, they declined to release them.
García was sleeping in the bushes in the 15400 block of Williams Avenue when police officers asked him to come out. Bodycam footage released by the Tustin police department shows García rushing out of the bushes, presenting a clear plastic bag of recyclables and the stick he had used to acquire them.
García yelled and stepped back into the hedges as the cop wearing a body camera fired a taser at him. When García moved again a few moments later, Silva fired at least two shots from his unloaded gun, resulting in García fleeing the officers before collapsing on the pavement.
Dale Galipo, an attorney representing García’s family, said García had already been attached to a stun gun and was subjected to a charge when he was fatally shot. García was treated by officers until paramedics arrived and transported him to the hospital, where he died later that day.
“You’ve got a homeless guy who may have mental issues and instead of de-escalating the situation they clearly escalated it,” Galipo told City News Service. “In many ways, the shooting was totally unnecessary… I’m hoping Tustin will do the right thing and step up and settle this case.”
Galipo expressed that although the video shows García projecting himself towards officers, the shooting still has no justification.
“Officers are trained to defuse situations, but everything this officer has done since they came into contact with him has escalated. There was no allegation that he had weapons or that he was hurting anyone,” Michael Carrillo, another attorney representing García’s family, said.
According to a statement made by the department back when the video was released in November, Silva and the other officers involved in the altercation still remained on field duty.
Lieutenant Matt Nunelli, Tustin Police Department spokesman, declined to comment on the lawsuit due to the shooting still being under active investigation by the Orange County District Attorney’s office and the state’s Justice Department.
As the case makes its way through the legal process, García’s family continues to mourn.
“We want justice for her and for my girls,” Rosalio Becerra, García’s former partner, told Granthshala News in November after police released body-camera footage of Silva’s shooting. “He took away the possibility of being the father of my girls. He took away the opportunity for him to come out of the hole he was in. We want to see justice.”
Kayode Giwa is a City News Intern for the winter 2022 quarter. He can be reached at kgiwa@uci.edu.
