Latino Man's Family files $10 Million Wronful Death claim Against Cops
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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