Bounty hunter shot by LAPD officer awarded nearly $1.2 million

[Liberal_in_LA]

Bounty hunter shot by LAPD officer awarded nearly $1.2 million

January 20, 2011 | 11:00 am

A bounty hunter shot and wounded by Los Angeles police who mistook him for a robber as he was taking a fugitive into custody has been awarded nearly $1.2 million by a federal jury.

Jurors earlier this month found Los Angeles Police Department Officer Daniel Pearce used “excessive force” when he shot Elvin Andre Gilbert in South L.A., where the bail recovery agent was detaining a bail jumper wanted on a felony.

The Nov. 30, 2005, shooting unfolded shortly before 9 p.m. and left Gilbert, who was working for a San Jose bail bonds company, in a drug-induced coma for several days from the gunshot wounds.

“I am glad it is over, and I’m happy with the jury’s decision,” said Gilbert, who continues to live with injuries he received.

Gilbert was shot after Pearce and his then-partner Officer Harlan Taylor heard a commotion near the 2100 block of East 99th Place and saw two men dressed in black confronting a Latino, holding his wrists behind his back and escorting him at gunpoint.

Officers said one of the men held a gun to the head of Isabino Vasquez, and they believed Gilbert and fellow bail agent Allen Badoya were committing a robbery or a kidnapping.

The officers, according to the LAPD, ordered Gilbert to drop the handgun, but Gilbert turned toward them, and Pearce shot him three times. One round hit the left side of Gilbert’s stomach and came out the right side, while another went through his right arm.
During a six-day trial, Gilbert’s attorney, Dale K. Galipo, presented witnesses who said Gilbert and his partner were already escorting the fugitive, and the gun was not raised when officers confronted them.

He also disputed the officers’ account that a warning was shouted before the shots were fired.

http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/lanow/2011/01/bounty-hunter-shot-by-lapd-officer-awarded-12-million.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+lanowblog+%28L.A.+Now%29

[rfranklin]

1. If these guys would dress in an easily identifiable color...

such as pink, thes tragedies would be avoided.

[ProgressiveProfessor]

2. Or not carry those evil super duper ultra high capacity clips

which hold over 3 rounds.