Unarmed Suspect Shot

Riverside, CA: (Mar-06-08) The family of Douglas Steven Cloud brought a wrongful death lawsuit against the city of Riverside, CA after Cloud, 28, was shot and killed by Riverside Police Department officers Nicholas Vazquez and David Johansen. The suit stated that the two officers shot at Cloud after he had sheared off a small palm tree at a high speed and crashed into a truck at the Acura of Riverside dealership on Oct. 8, 2006. Minutes earlier, Cloud had stolen a $289 paint spraying machine from a nearby Home Depot and fled without it after store employees and bystanders chased him and tried to apprehend him with force in the parking lot. He sped in his Toyota Celica hatchback out of the parking lot but crashed shortly after.

Sources stated that Officer Jeffrey Putman was at the Home Depot apprehending another shoplifter when he saw Cloud speed away. His broadcast over police radio lead the other officers to Cloud, followed by the crash and the shooting that culminated. While 11 officers in six police cars were en route to the scene, the 28 year-old, African-American suspect was being described as an Hispanic male, 20 to 25 years old.

As part of a settlement reached between the parties, the city agreed to pay the family $800,000 to resolve the wrongful death suit. [BLACK VOICE NEWS: CPRC REPORT RELEASE AMIDST REACHING SETTLEMENT WITH CITY]

Legal Help

If you have a similar problem and would like to be contacted by a lawyer at no cost or obligation, please click the link below.

Please click here for a free evaluation of your claim

Published on Mar-7-08