LA County Sheriff's Kill Unarmed Latino Man after Traffic Stop. Family Claims Cops Shot Passenger 14 times while his hands were up & open - Witnesses Afraid of Police

From [HERE] and [HERE] "Make sure your headline says 'community outraged,'" said John Brown. He lives down the block from where L.A. County sheriff's deputies shot and killed Jose de la Trinidad late Saturday night in Willowbrook. "This wouldn't have happened in Beverly Hills, Brentwood," Brown said. "Only in Inglewood, Compton, what I call "low-scale neighborhoods." 

An autopsy is pending on the body of an unarmed Latino man shot by two Los Angeles County Sheriff's deputies during an attempted traffic stop. Jose de la Trinidad, 36, was shot and killed by Los Angeles County sheriff's deputies just minutes after leaving a party. He was unarmed. His family is demanding answers as to why deputies fired on the unarmed passenger in the car.

According to L.A. County Sheriff's Det. Edmundo Hummel, deputies attempted to make a traffic stop. As the deputies approached the vehicle, De La Trinidad's brother took off. After a short pursuit, the car stopped again - abruptly — in the 1900 block of East 122nd Street. A few minutes later, De La Trinidad got out of the car.

Jose de la Trinidad "quickly" exited the passenger seat and lifted his hands, a sheriff's official said. Authorities said he appeared to be raising his hands from his waistband. Believing him armed, deputies opened fire and fatally shot Jose de la Trinidad.

His family members insist he was lifting his empty hands to his head to surrender - apparently complying with police orders to do so. "He was not armed, he got out of the car and put his hands up," his wife, Rosanna de la Trinidad said, adding that witnesses told her they heard as many as 14 gunshots. "He did what he was supposed to do, and now he's dead." 

Family members say De La Trinidad was disabled after suffering a severe arm injury in a car accident. According to his wife, he kept his arm bent at his waist. His family wonders if that is what led the deputies to open fire. [MORE] His wife believes he simply got out of the car because he wanted no part of the chase - as the passenger he had committed no criminal offense in the incident.

His brother, who family members believe may have been intoxicated after a night of celebrating, sped off again before crashing his vehicle at the intersection of El Segundo and Avalon boulevards. He fled on foot but was apprehended by police.

Says Rosie, “He put his hands up, like he was told. And there are plenty of witnesses there who witnessed it. But they are terrified.”

Jorge Dominguez lives about 15 feet away from where De la Trinidad fell. He said some neighbors say they heard yelling, followed by 11 gunshots, but the last two shots woke him up. He waited a beat and then ran outside, where he found a large number of police scouring the area with flashlights. [MORE] 

Franciso de la Trinidad, 39, is being held on suspicion of probation violation and felony evading in lieu of $75,000 bail. Records show he served prison time for a previous conviction.

Sheriff's Department officials have released few additional details about the shooting and say the incident will be fully investigated by multiple agencies, standard protocol for all deputy-involved shootings. [MORE]