The family of Guillermo Medina, who was shot in the back and killed by Culver City Police last December, has filed a civil rights lawsuit against the department, accusing it of using excessive force.
Guillermo Medina’s wife, Adriana Medina, said in a statement Tuesday that she contacted the police when her husband began behaving erratically after he had stopped taking his prescribed schizophrenia medication, Fox 11 reports. She claims that when she called the police she “clearly expressed” that her husband was in crisis and that she had called the Culver City Police Department’s front desk, not 911, emphasizing that Guillermo was unarmed and not a threat to anyone.
“It was made clear to the dispatcher, it was made clear to the officer who was in my house over and over and over,” she stated. “I said it for an hour.”
Medina tried to escape in his car and then on foot after crashing a few blocks away. Video of the fatal encounter, shared with the family’s attorney on Tuesday, shows Medina falling to the ground after being shot in the back. The family takes issue with the fact that appears life-saving measures were not taken until paramedics arrived minutes later.
The claim argues that “the officers’ over-response and neglect violated both state and federal laws, department policies and procedures dictating use-of-force and police officer standard training mandates.”
The Medina’s lawyer, V. James DeSimone, said in a statement, “Once again, a cry for help has ended in a death sentence.”
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