Jury awards $1.9 million in to the parents of a man killed in a police shooting

A jury in a California federal court recently awarded the parents of a young man $1.9 million in a wrongful death lawsuit filed against the City of Indio, California as well as its chief of police and a veteran police officer.  According to reports on the case, the jury found that the defendant officer used excessive force in attempting to detain the man and that the City of Indio approved the officer’s use of force.  The jury also found that the defendant officer committed battery against the man and interfered with his parents’ rights to a relationship with their son by killing him.

According to reports, Alejandro Rendon was riding a bicycle, near a mental health facility and a pharmacy.  Officer Alex Franco saw Rendon, believed his activities to be suspicious, and attempted to stop him.  Officer Franco apparently testified that he stopped Rendon because he did not have a functioning headlight on his bicycle.  When the officer attempted to stop him, Rendon fled, fearing that he may wrongfully detained or subjected to an unlawful use of force, and Officer Franco followed him.  As he fled, Rendon attempted to climb a chain-link fence.  Forensic evidence presented at trial showed that Rendon was shot once while on top of the fence and once while hanging from the opposite of where Franco was positioned on the other side of the fence.  Rendon died in an ambulance before he could reach the emergency room of a hospital.  According to reports on the situation, the Rendon family’s attorney said Rendon didn’t threaten the officer and “did not pose a threat of death or serious physical injury.”

See more on this story at: The Desert Sun.