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Subscribe to RSSThe family of a man shot by Anaheim, Calif., police in January has filed a $20 million wrongful death lawsuit, court documents show.
The family of Bernie Cervantes Villegas alleges Anaheim officers wrongfully and negligently shot him to death on Jan. 7 outside an apartment complex on Ball Road, according to the civil complaint filed Oct. 15 in Orange County Superior Court.
The lawsuit alleges that at least five members of the department’s SWAT team rushed around a corner and shot Villegas without provocation as he stood in a parking lot, talking with friends.
Full coverage on NBCLosAngeles.com: Anaheim Shootings
Police, responding to 911 calls of a man with a gun, shot Villegas, who they say threatened them with what appeared to be a gun that later turned out to be a BB rifle, said Anaheim Police Sgt. Bob Dunn.
The lawsuit said Villegas was holding a small BB gun -- a present for his son -- but that he did not threaten the officers and was not a danger.
Dana Douglas, the attorney representing the Villegas family, did not return a call seeking comment.
The lawsuit said the officers fired without giving any commands or warnings.
For more visit NBCLosAngeles.com.
The officers “created a blatantly false story that (Villegas) had a shotgun, that he had waved or pointed a gun at officers and that he had tried to threaten or attack officers,” the lawsuit said.
Villegas held a "small BB gun" by the end of the barrel and pointed upward while he stood and talked with friends, the lawsuit said.
In addition to wrongful death, the lawsuit alleges negligence, negligent hiring, and deprivation of civil rights.
The news comes as Anaheim police shot and critically wounded early Sunday a man on a bike they say was armed with a pistol.
Anaheim has been the focus of increased scrutiny after back-to-back fatal police shootings this summer, one of which prompted a $50 million wrongful death lawsuit by the family of a man who was unarmed.
Also on NBCLosAngeles.com: Video Released of Firebomb Attack in Long Beach
The shootings sparked a series of protests across the country, clashes with Anaheim police and calls for city reform.
The number of police shootings in Anaheim have spiked as the city is grappling with a spike in gang-related crime, officers said.
According to data provided by the city to NBC4 under the California Public Records Act, the city of Anaheim has paid out more $2.2 million to settle 10 officer-involved shooting cases dating back to 2005.
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Awesome; only had BB gun and was rushed by Swat. WTF is wrong here?
And the police are mind readers also
What is wrong here is you believing in one sided tabloid articles from MSN.
I live 30 minutes from Anahiem. There is more here to the story then "had a bb gun".
I do not believe much mainstream media pumps out to the ill informed. I will leave it to criminal courts to sort out and not the court of public NBC biased inciting propaganda for ratings.
Turn off the lame stream news, it is your enemy.
Apolitical4u: did you read the article?! He was holding the BB gun by the barrel, which makes it rather difficult to pull the trigger, then LIED about him threatening them. I'm sure he's going to threaten a SWAT team with a Daisy BB gun. I feel for the officers who have to make difficult decisions but coverups are not the answer.
WTF is wrong here? just about everything. when you have so called police officers who are no longer protectors of society, but consider society as enemies, incidents like this, will consistantly happen
He was a known validated gang member.BB gun or not,the police did the right thing.
First it is not against the law to belong to a gang. Second, that was the bicyclist that got shot, not Bernie Cervantes Villegas.
what is an adult male doing with a bb gun? idiot got what he deserved. if i knew where he was buried id take a number 2 on his grave.
The article said what he was doing with a BB gun, you apparently didn't read it.
Smoot Mahooty: did you read the article?! He was holding the BB gun by the barrel, which makes it rather difficult to pull the trigger, then LIED about him threatening them.
RFLOL that's what the law suit states, but does not make it correct....
If someone brings a law suit against you they can lie all they want about what happened and say in the law suit anything they want. I take it you never been sued before???
If you make gun ownership a crime, only the police will have guns. Frightening.
I think I'll take a number 2 on you before you're buried until you learn how to read.
SmootMahooty: "....but coverups are not the answer."
Feel that way about Libya?
and if you idiots believe he was just giving a bb gun to his kid you all deserve a number 2 in the face.
TamiL,His moniker was Chino.There was a report of a man waking around the complex carrying a weapon with a wooden stock.He wasn't bringing the BB gun from his car to his apartment.He was walking around the complex with it.Turns out that he pointed the BB gun at police therefore he was shot and yes he was a gang member.
I did a quick Google search on the case and Mr. Villegas and this was what I found;
Whether Villegas pointed the BB gun or even had it in his possession at the time of the shooting is unclear.
"We found a BB rifle in proximity to the scene where the officer-involved shooting occurred," [Police Sgt Bob] Dunn said.
Neighbors said they watched as two police officers pulled Villegas out from under the stairs where his blood was pooling and attempted to perform CPR.
Villegas was pronounced dead at the scene, Dunn said.
Orange County District Attorney officials are investigating the death, as is procedure during all officer-involved shootings.
Villegas' father, Miguel Villegas, said he was hoping to get answers from District Attorney investigators
"My kid is dead," he said. "He is not a murderer. He didn't murder or molest anyone. He's got a drug case, I'm not ashamed to admit. One time, he went to jail because his son is not going to school regularly."
According to court records, a man matching Villegas' name and date of birth has had some run-ins with the law. In 2010, Villegas pleaded guilty to misdemeanor petty theft and was sentenced to 17 days in jail.
In March 2011, Villegas was arrested on suspicion of one misdemeanor count of being under the influence of a controlled substance and one misdemeanor count of being in possession of controlled substance paraphernalia. He pleaded guilty and was sentenced to three years probation and ordered to complete a drug program, court records show.
Two months later, Villegas was arrested on suspicion of one misdemeanor count of being under the influence of a controlled substance. He pleaded guilty and was sentenced to three years probation and ordered to complete a drug program, the records show.
I didn't see anything about gangs. Could you tell me where you saw that?
American police department no longer perform the traditional police functions. Instead, they have hired trigger-happy assassins to kill anyone suspected of carrying a weapon while their regular cops concentrate on petty crimes and on revenue enhancement for the municipality. This unfortunate killing of Villegas is not surprising when SWAT members are recruited for their special ability to wage urban combat warfare against civilians. They are trained killers who pulls the trigger first and ask questions later. To kill civilians is their passion as opposed to the regular army soldiers who are prohibited from killing civilians.
In Anaheim and throughout Southern California, from small shops to major retail malls, business owners no longer rely on undisciplined and unpredictable law enforcement from municipal police departments. Instead, they used unarmed private security guards even though that means the business pays twice for peace and order: wages for the private police and taxes for the local police.
Instead of protecting business and residents from criminals, the local police are busy working as revenue generators for the local municipality. The massive issuance of traffick tickets, jay-walking tickets, and towing of vehicles provide tens of millions of dollars annually to the local treasury which is used partially to fund police salary and benefits. Every policeman knows the connection between the issuance of tickets and adequate funding of the police budget. The cop-on-the-beat knows the real meaning of the statement: crime doesn't pay. But they also know enforcement of traffic laws does pay handsomely, albeit indirectly.
The proliferation of SWAT has transformed America into a military garrision state. Armed with heavy machine guns, grenades and Kevlar armor vest, helicopter gun-ships, and armored vehicles, SWAT is America's paramilitary troops masqueraded as the civilian policemen. Increasingly, the civilian population is afraid of the SWAT troopers as much as the criminals. Perhaps, that has been the goal of Big Brother all along.
a cop here in Washington State shot a drunk man sitting in his car, so drunk he kept nodding off, in the back 7 times........the mans car was boxed in on 4 sides and if the guy had been left alone he would have fallen asleep...
another cop on the scene said the officer who shot the intoxicated man said "time to end this" just before he stood to the rear and off to the side of the car and shot 8 times into the back of the drivers seat through the back window and hit the driver 7 times. The driver died at the scene and the cop stated he was afraid for his life..............
this cop murdered a drunk behind the wheel who was belligerent and uncooperative....the guys car was completely blocked in, he was going no where...this was not a crime worthy of a death sentence.
The cop was put on trial and found not guilty of murder but the jury also found the cop was guilty of excessive force in this situation. The cop was fired after being on paid leave for 2 years, had all his legal fees paid by the city of Everett and his fellow cops and though he sued to get his job back the firing stood. If you or I did this.............we would be in prison for manslaughter if not murder.
Trigger happy power junkies............maybe law enforcement officers play too many video games too.
If trained SWAT officer cannot tell the difference between a BB gun and a shotgun, then yes, we have a definite problem here.
Debbie McCarten:
One of the problems we are seeing with excessive force in law enforcement is due to cities hiring military vets fresh out of war still operating with the killing mentality. You even see it in the workplace/domestic killings being perpetrated by recent war returnees.
It's unfortunate, but more than likely one of the reasons private corporations are hesitant about hiring vets; they don't want to take on the potential liability.
"uncle henry" it's no wonder you have such a potty-mouth, nothing but @!$%# comes out of it. Maybe someday one of these "Shoot now, lie later" @!$%# police officers will shoot & kill one of your family members & then see how you feel about that. Cops are just Peace Officers, not a judge or jury & they have no right to pass down a death sentence on anybody. Too many are these days...and getting away with it.
Debi,
I am with you on all of the cop abuse and I also want to squash the idea that it is just a few bad apples ruining it for all the good ones. It has been my experience that there are very few, if any, good cops and the rest are bad.
That being said, I am a combat veteran and I and all of the vets I know would not abuse citizens of the communities where they live. Cops are an entirely different breed and they care for no one but themselves.
Before anyone says that I shouldn't call 911 if someone is breaking into my house, etc. I have never needed nor will I ever need the cops to come help me out. They will get their too late anyway.
And every week I hear of at least one innocent person being shot by police, and the reason it keeps happening... Because dumb people think its ok for police to shoot innocent people.
You're correct spellchecker, there are not very many "good" cops because they keep their mouths shut when they see the bad ones misbehaving. There are very few in law enforcement who are willing to break the "Code of Silence".
Until we have independent Citizen's Review Boards to oversee the departments instead of their own peers, otherwise known as Internal Affairs, abuse and dishonorable behaviors will continue from those empowered to enforce the law, not break it.
As for vets, how could you not come back scarred from war? It's not easy switching gears from kill or be killed to only killing when absolutely necessary.
I live 30 minutes from Anahiem. There is more here to the story then "had a bb gun". The city is over run by criminal gangs.
How many times are you going to post this? Are we supposed to be impressed that you live 30 minutes from Anahiem?
I live it...you rant on the net about it... go away.
Then move. See? Simple.
at this point it seems like the biggest criminal gang are the rotten apples in the bunch of Anahiems Finest.....
Tragic as this is,the man was a known and validated gang member.Just what California needs living near Disneyland,are gang members.I'm sorry that his mother who was crying on television and arranging demonstrations on his behalf that she lost her son but she should in no way receive one red penny.When you raise a thug this is the end result.
Seems of late, the people who are suppose to protect and serve are becoming thugs. Beating people, shooting people, maybe they shouldn't let the power of authority go to their heads the way they are. I say sue the thugs and the mommas that raised them.
lol she wants taxpayer money.
All you "IDIOTS" who think it's okay for the Police to gun someone down because he/she is a gang member, might be a gang member, could be a gang member, is suspected of being a gang member, looks like a gang member should just keep your lame opinions to yourself. Where would it end if nobody cared that the S.W.A.T. bastards gunned somebody down just because they didn't like their life style? Was the man commiting a crime when they shot him, no he was standing around talking to friends...big threat there...so big they sent S.W.A.T. I'd say that's OVER-KILL. Where were the regular Anaheim P.D. Pussies???
It's good to bring backup to a situation with a lot of unknowns...
Having said that...if there are 5 of you, 3 of them, only 1 of them is armed...you'd think charging in guns-a-blazin' is not exactly the most rational response...
Granted, I wasn't there so I only have what this story told me to go from...but it just seems like we're getting a lot of officer's rushing to judgement in situations that were not hot enough to require a rush to judgement.
It reminds me of the South Park scene of the hunters who spot a bunny and yell "it's comming right at us!" and unload.
The flip-side is the mentality that "they can't sue me if they are dead" brought on by things like people breaking into someone's house and then suing the homeowner if they get injured which is increasing the mentality to kill intruders so that they can not further abuse you after breaking into your house and failing to get away with theft/rape/murder because they were injured by your efforts to defend/save yourself and family.
Stupidity on all sides of the equation... people too quick to pull the trigger, people too eager to sue the crap out of anyone and everyone for any reason possible and actually being allowed to win.
End result is a lot of horrific tragedy and wasted effort and resources that could have been put to much better things.
Good riddance to another worthless gangbanger. I seriously don't think that Swat shot him without provocation. Whether he had a BB gun or a water pistol, listen to what the police tell you. 1 down 1,000's more to go.
Where is everyone getting gang member from?
@Mire, the other person they were talking about the bicyclist that was shot was a known gang member. Still doesn't justify it. We have due process for a reason.
The 2nd amendment gives people the right to keep and bear arms. It does not give the police the right to kill us for exercising that right. It appears this man was not threatening anyone with the bb gun and yet the police killed him without even giving him a warning or opportunity to drop it. Good bye civil rights. The cops can kill you any time they please with no consequences.
nicely put dennis, was he a gang banger because of his race? or nationality give me a brake. I dont think anyone of normal mind would endanger their kids to the trigger happy police in our society. Many police officers get away with outright murder in our society. I bet you wouldnt want to hear someone say this about one of your family members if the police reacted this way to them. let them shoot your family member first and then call them a threat afterwards even though you say they werent and you wont applaud the behavior of these trigger happy baffoons.
This story just plain smells bad.
I find it impossible to believe that someone would be stupid enough to stand around a corner from an incident involving a SWAT call-out, with a weapon in his hand.
Another law suit against the police...big surprise...how can anybody comment until the whole story is out or if they were actually there. So tired of people bring suit against the police for doing there jobs. If you have a gun in your hand fake or real and the police are called...chance are, unless you comply with the police, your going to get shot. I've seen BB guns and believe me, you are not able to tell if they are real or fake. If anybody out there honesly think that the police WANT to go around shooting people for no reason...then you've got major issues. Everyday in cities like Oakland, Richmond, San Francisco and yes Anaheim people are shooting each other all the time...but where are the big protests and law suits then....Oh, that's right, there aren't any because the thugs shooting each other don't have deep pockets. Come on people....start taking responsibility for your own actions...don't put yourself in a situation that potentially could be deadly.
It's all about the benjamins -- the lawyers get rich, the family gets month for their little gang member, and the city goes broke.
Like the people on the bridge in New Oleans right Slim except that gun was planted there from a garage never happens right
While I don't think that excessive force is acceptable. I do believe that the lawsuits in this country are out of control. This man was unlikely to ever make $20 million in his lifetime. We need to find a better way in this country to settle disputes than sue everyone and their grandmother. This is ruining our country.
Whether he would have earned 20m in his lifetime is irrelevant. A family has been deprived a husband, father, and son. I am sure they would rather have him back than the money.
Dude was a gang member. I'm sure there was some sort of coverup but I feel no remorse for gangbangers who end up dead.
Prove it.
Why does the taxpayer have to foot the bill for the defense of this stupid lawsuit. A thug got himself killed by brandishing a fake gun at a SWAT team! I say good riddance.
Making a lot of assumptions, did you read the deeper story, he was talking with friends when he was rushed by the swat team. That isn't brandishing a fake gun at the swat team.
Thug? Prove it.
Guns don't kill people, Cops kill people.
They have a license to.
I've seen it go both ways...SWAT teams sitting for hours or even days waiting for the situation to develop and "No-Knock" raids where it's guns blazing only to find out...oops! wrong apartment. There is no amount of money you could pay me to be a cop. If you weren't a miserable person when you started being a cop, the daily dealing with the obnoxious (everybody suddenly becomes a Constitution Law expert when they get pulled over), heavily armed, drugged/drunk and crazy (nearly 12% of the population has a psych diagnosis and they get roam around at will) public.
Seriously....think about it...look around, listen to people talk (and blogs)...now tell me with a straight face you'd want to be a cop.
Now this might be a case of police acting first and thinking later...I don't know...I haven't been following the case and I don't live in California, but I know I wouldn't want the job.
The very real possibility of pulling over a vehical for speeding, walking up to the window to ask for license and registration, and take two bullets in the chest because you didn't react in time that day alone would keep me from ever applying to be a police officer.
It takes serious guts.
Nothing anyone says changes the fact that it is a stressful and dangerous job.
That still doesn't not excuse abusive cops and corruption.
But the comments in this story are definitely making me think twice about taking a road trip to Disneyland with the kids a few years down the road from now...
Solymnar,
Take your kids to Disney World instead...not that Orlando hasn't got it's fair share of crime...but it is pretty segregated from the mayhem of real life near the theme parks.......Guess that was Walt's intention.
According to data provided by the city to NBC4 under the California Public Records Act, the city of Anaheim has paid out more $2.2 million to settle 10 officer-involved shooting cases dating back to 2005.
So about 220,000 per murder by police?
......deprivation of civil rights.
Is this family suing even LEGAL citizens? Somehow, I don't think so.
Why because the have a hispanic last name? Bigotry at its finest.
88% chance they are not. They should be escorted to the nearest drop point into Mexihole.
Someone already looked it up, he was a legal immigrant from the phillipines. Just because someone has a hispanic name or brown skin does not mean they are not legal. People of hispanic decent are the fastest growing segment of our population. You need to get your facts straight, 88% of the hispanic population is not illegal. Bigotry and close mindeness will get you nowhere.
2010 Census there were 51,560,504.846 self identifying hispanics in the U.S. Keeping in mind most illegals would not take the census, it is a safe assumption that the majority of those are legal.
The total number of illegal aliens in the U.S. in 2010 was 11.5m, that is from all countries not just hispanic countries. You do the math.
see whats happening in Greece, the far right is taking over, when the economy is bad, bad things come
and this is why people become lawyers...just waiting for the police to shoot someone doing "nothing".hopefully when the trurh comes out the police can countersue the "victims"family...sorry he died though...
That is not why. Many people did it because they truly thought they could help underdogs. Are there scum in every field-sure, and maybe you hear about it with lawyers and politicians because they do have the power to do things, good or bad, except you only hear about the bad. I know a number of people who became lawyers later in life because they couldn't stand just watching helplessly as nice people, and animals, were getting the shaft, and figured that as an atty, they could actually do something more than volunteer at the VA, stage protests, etc.
I hate this lawsuit-shame. Now all these officers have their whole lives turned upside down. Although we d/k what happened, exactly, it appears that bb gun was the issue, not his ethnicity. And why was he even getting anyone a bb gun in such a congested area? So the kid can shoot cats and dogs?
Leave it to BSNBC to take the word of known gang members over highly vetted police officers.
The only difference between the thugs and police is the badge.
Got caught speeding, eh?
No Vern I just don't look at the world through rose colored glasses... You a licensed thug?
Show me a single reference that says he was a gang member.
@Dale, they read what they wanted to read. There was another shooting referenced in the article, the unarmed bicyclist. He is the one who was a known gang member, but you have to following the links to actually get the full story.
I have a correction to make, the bicyclist was armed. But the linked article does not say whether or not the gun was holstered. I would think it would be difficult to ride a bike while holding a hand gun.
I can see both sides. Saddens me that the people commenting cannot. Pointing fingers back and forth thug vs cop is not going to solve anything. You are all just perpetuating the cycle of hate, becoming a part of the problem instead of part of the solution. You should all be ashamed of yourselves.
Man on a bike with a gun regardless of what kind is wrong! Only thing wrong, Gun Safety! A dummy riding, around with what appears to be a gun, was asking to get shot! No matter where we are, I thank the law enforcement for our protection.
what is an adult male doing with a bb gun? idiot got what he deserved.
Sounds the same as:
"She had large breasts. What was she thinking - going out in public like that? Bitch got what she deserved. No wonder she got raped."
youre a sick dude. seriously seek help.
Really...He is sick...But you said you would love to drop a deuce on his grave...
May the police always find you...To help you stay legal of course.
Hey Sawyer....if you make gun ownership a crime, not only will the police have guns, but the criminals too. Duh.
The police makes decisions every day in a few seconds, that society will take months to "determine" if they were proper.
It's pretty easy when you are "standing on the porch", to condemn them.
And as far as the "media" is concerned....It lives to make these types of incidents controversial.
But people are quick to judge on the facts that they "think" they knw.
Lesson # 1. Do not threaten the police with ANY kind of weapon. If you threaten the police, they are allowed to shoot you as many times as it takes for you to hit the ground. That's their job. If you hold up your hands and surrender, they will arrest you and you can stand trial, if you do not your homies can attend your funeral.
This idiot should have known that he could be shot for waving a rifle ( BB or not ) at the police. The police are not going to ask you if your weapon is loaded or if it's really a deadly weapon or if it just a plastic toy. A 911 call comes in about a man waving a rifle the police have to take it seriously and act accordingly.
How is standing holding the barrel of the gun with it pointed up in the air, threatening anyone? There was no waving the gun around.
By all means lets let any family or person sue the P.D. if they end up dead from pointing toy weapons at LOE's. For all you cop haters I would love to see you placed in that split second time frame to either be murdered if the weapon is real. In spite of his family "swearing" he was doing nothing wrong I suspect he did not comply with a lawful order to drop it. It is a bogus lawsuit by a POS lawyer and if it is a bunch of illegals they should not be entitled to seu anyone at all.
But did he have any Skittles in his pockets?
G O O D for this Family! Now a few thousand families around the country should start bringing LAAAAAAAAAAW! SUUUUUUUUUUUUUUIIIIITS,against these MURDERING VICIOUS CRIMINALS,calling themselves Cops!
Bottom line Zero amount of these people either should be wearing a badge and uniform,and let alone be carrying Guns!
These Pigs are not true police, and give law enforcement across this country a very bad reputation.One day in the not to distant future people aren't going to be suing, they're going to be hunting these pigs down!And you all know the rest of the story!!
Got caught speeding, eh?
AH NOPE,haven't driven lately! Besides I know all the Cops in my area and they don't kill just for sport!
Better get your head out of your Iphone and that foot ball game.This is becoming an epidemic in this pathetic police state country.Cause you never know when some Trigger Happy Cop might target you or some other innocent person,and what would of it been for? All for Nothing!
Just about a month ago a marine was sitting in his car at a traffic stop near New York City,he got shot,and what for? Nothing,that's what for?I can give you a long list of murders of innocent people by these goons just in the past year and a half alone,but I'm not wasting my time,or my breath.
Get a Clue!