The family of a man shot and killed by Tustin police in 2021 has been awarded $17 million by a jury in a civil lawsuit filed against the City of Tustin, the family’s attorneys announced.
Following a six-day trial in federal court in Los Angeles, jurors on Tuesday, April 21 awarded a total of $17 million – $5 million for the loss of life of Luis Garcia, $5 million for his pain and suffering and $7 million for the wrongful death – said attorney Dale Galipo. The family was represented by attorneys Dale K. Galipo, Michael Carrillo and Renee V. Masongsong in the civil suit.
“They were happy and relieved… just vindicated that their dad was not found at all responsible for his own death.” Michael Carrillo, an attorney representing Garcia’s daughters, 23-year-old Emily and 17-year-old Camilla, said of their reaction to the verdict.
The City of Tustin expressed disappointment in the verdict.
“Reviews of this incident by the California Department of Justice determined that Tustin police acted in self-defense and were justified in the use of force against an armed suspect. While we continue to extend condolences, we are disappointed by this verdict, in this civil suit, and will be exploring our options going forward,” the city’s statement said.
Luis Garcia was asleep in a bush near a mobile home park in Tustin when he was awoken by police officers on Aug. 9, 2021. An officer, identified in a California Department of Justice report on the shooting as Tustin Police Officer Estela Silva, ordered Garcia to wake up and come out of the bushes with his hands up several times. She can be heard on bodycam footage asking him to stop playing with his pockets/bag and for him to get out of the bushes and saying that she knows him.
She recognized him from two prior arrests, according to a California Department of Justice report on the shooting.
Garcia, who was homeless at the time, told the officer he was waiting for a friend and collecting recyclables and did not immediately exit the bushes, bodycam footage of the shooting shows.
He starts to leave the bushes at one point and officers try to grab him, but he goes back into the bushes, before starting to leave the bushes holding a stick and a bag of recycling, bodycam footage shows.
Another officer t ased Garcia, who yelled out and stepped further away from the bushes.
Silva then shot Garcia twice. He fell to the ground and repeatedly called out in pain, body care footage shows. The footage shows officers giving him medical aid, cutting his shirt off his bloodied back and speaking to him. “I am dying,” Garcia said in Spanish.
Residents of the Saddleback Mobilodge, a mobile home park, had found a knife in the bushes near the park two days prior and called to report a homeless man living in the bushes nearby, according to a California Department of Justice report on the shooting. Officers were responding to the area when they came across Garcia.
“The officers had received a call for service regarding a blond Caucasian man who had a knife the previous day, and Mr. Garcia, who is Hispanic, obviously did not match the description of the call,” attorneys for the Garcia family said in a release.
The California Department of Justice report found insufficient evidence to support criminally prosecuting Silva. The report suggested the Tustin Police Department re-examine policies related to de-escalation tactics, body-worn cameras (Silva was not wearing one) and officer communication after officer-involved shootings.
“At trial, Officer Silva testified that Mr. Garcia attempted to ‘jab’ her with the stick, and Defendants argued that Mr. Garcia ‘could have’ injured Officer Silva or one of the other officers with the stick,” the Garcia family’s attorneys said in a statement.
City News Service contributed to this report.