Wednesday
17Nov
Latino Man's Family files $10 Million Wrongful Death claim Against Cops
Wednesday, November 17, 2004 at 03:46PM
The family of a 24-year-old man fatally shot by two police
officers is seeking $10million in damages from the city, claiming
wrongful death and excessive force. Freddie Joe Enriquez was shot Aug.
29 by two unidentified police officers on a second-floor balcony of the
Sunset Village Apartments. The officers who fired did so without proper
justification and "failed to immediately summon medical personnel,' the
family's claim contends. The claim was filed with the city
on behalf of the family by attorney John Henley on Nov. 1 and was
addressed to Mayor Dierdre Bennett and the City Council. Freddie had
been visiting his mother, who lived in the complex and was leaving for
dinner with his girlfriend and her parents, family members said. The
couple were on their way to the car when Enriquez saw police. Two
officers had responded to an unrelated call of a "disturbed person' at
the Sunset Village apartments police said. When they arrived, their
attention was diverted from the original call after they noticed
Freddie Enriquez arguing with another tenant, police said. "They made
eye contact and my brother ran,' Antoinette Enriquez said. When the two
officers approached him, police said Freddie Enriquez pulled out a
handgun. The officers shot him and called paramedics, coroner's
officials said. Enriquez was taken to Loma Linda University Medical
Center, where he was pronounced dead. He was shot twice in the head and
five times in the chest. "It took them forever for them to get my
brother to the hospital,' his sister, Antoinette Enriquez, said. "His
girlfriend heard him breathing really hard, trying to take a breath.'
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