County Will Pay $400,000 to Man Shot by Deputy
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The Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors voted Tuesday to pay $400,000 to a mentally disturbed man who was shot five times by a sheriff’s deputy in Santa Clarita after he allegedly attacked the deputy with a police baton.
Brian Mittenhuber, who was 19 at the time of the November 1991 incident, survived the bullet wounds and sued Los Angeles County and the Sheriff’s Department for $6.2 million.
Deputy Scott Seeman was cleared of wrongdoing by the Sheriff’s Department.
Earlier this month, the county Claims Board recommended settling the suit after deciding that a jury would probably believe that Seeman and his partner did not do enough to calm Mittenhuber down.
The shooting occurred after Mittenhuber grabbed a baton from a sheriff’s deputy while he was being placed under arrest for allegedly stalking his estranged girlfriend.
The deputies said Mittenhuber was approaching in a threatening manner when he was shot--although one witness contradicted the deputies’ account.
The board approved the settlement 4-0 without discussion. Supervisor Zev Yaroslavsky was absent.
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