The United States District Court for the Central District of California issued an order granting summary judgement in favor of three Santa Ana Police Department officers in a federal civil rights and wrongful death lawsuit. The case arose out of the SAPD’s pursuit of a hit-and-run suspect. When the suspect refused to exit his vehicle, a police canine and less-lethal rounds from a 40mm launcher were used to extract him. After he was arrested, the suspect was taken to the hospital to be treated and cleared for booking, and he later died. Plaintiffs alleged that the officers’ use of force was excessive and caused the suspect’s death. The District Court found that the use of force was objectively reasonable under the circumstances and that the officers were entitled to qualified immunity. The individual officers were represented by Jill Williams and Anna Petrosyan .
