Family of slain Washington farmworker seeks $25 million in lawsuit

Relatives of an unarmed Mexican immigrant farmworker who was fatally shot earlier this year by patrolmen in Washington State filed a federal lawsuit on Thursday seeking more than $25 million in damages.

The lawsuit filed in U.S. District Court in Spokane alleged that three officers erratically fired 17 times at Antonio Zambrano-Montes, 35, as he ran from them at a busy intersection in the southeastern city of Pasco on Feb. 10.

Police have said he was shot after pelting the officers with rocks. The officers have not been charged.

An autopsy showed that Zambrano-Montes was shot seven times, including two times in the back. Witness accounts and video showed the man running away from officers before turning around briefly — with what appeared to be a rock in his hand — and being gunned down.

"Antonio Zambrano was unjustifiably and wrongly shot and killed by the three Defendant City of Pasco police officers, denying him his civil rights as protected by federal law," family attorney George Trejo wrote in the complaint that named Pasco, its police department and police chief and the three officers as defendants.

The complaint added that the fatal shooting reflected a pattern of unconstitutional practices, excessive force and poor training of the city's officers.

As a result of the family's loss, estranged widow Teresa De Jesus Meraz and her young children are due damages in excess of $25 million, according to the complaint.

Last month, members of Zambrano-Montes' family filed a separate $4.76 million wrongful death claim against the city.

The killing was among a series of fatal police shootings of unarmed minorities across the United States that have put law enforcement agencies under scrutiny over their use of force, particularly against minorities. It prompted demonstrations in Pasco, which has a Latino majority.

City Manager Dave Zabell said in a statement that Pasco did not comment on pending litigation. The police department and Franklin County Prosecuting Attorney Shawn Sant did not immediately respond to a request for comment

Police said two stun guns failed to subdue Zambrano-Montes during the standoff, and investigators concluded Zambrano-Montes was "likely in possession of a rock" during a second volley of police bullets. They also claimed that he had used meth.

"He was trying to physically seriously injure or kill us. He wasn't backing off at all," Officer Ryan Flanagan, who has since resigned, told an investigator.

Video of the incident showed Zambrano-Montes fleeing from pursuing officers across a busy intersection before turning to face them and being gunned down.

Reuters