What to Know
- A record $14.4 million settlement has been reached in the fatal shooting of a grandfather by a Los Angeles County Sheriff's deputy.
- Frank Mendoza Sr., 54, was shot in the ankle and head on Aug. 1, 2014 as he was walking out his front door in Pico Rivera.
- The family's attorney said deputies failed to contain a wanted, armed and dangerous gang member, who had entered Mendoza's home.
A record $14.4 million settlement has been reached four years after a Los Angeles County Sheriff's deputy fatally shot a grandfather he mistook for a wanted gang member in a standoff at a Pico Rivera home.
Frank Mendoza Sr., 54, was shot in the ankle and head on Aug. 1, 2014 as he was walking out his front door in the 9000 block of Rosehedge Drive. Deputies whisked the mortally wounded Mendoza out of the house during the standoff, but he died at a hospital.
"Money doesn't really mean anything," Mendoza's son, Frank Jr., said at a news conference announcing the settlement. "I'd take my father over anything."
The family's attorney, Garo Mardirossian, said that deputies failed to contain a wanted, armed and dangerous gang member, who had hopped a fence into the Mendozas' backyard, endangering the family.
Cedric Ramirez, 24, wanted for being an ex-felon in possession of a firearm and taking a vehicle without the owner's consent, hid inside the house for hours, while Mendoza's wife hid in a locked bathroom.
Deputies eventually entered the home, killed Ramirez and rescued Mendoza's wife. Family members said Mendoza was six months away from retirement after a 30-year career at Unified Grocers and had been diagnosed with prostate cancer.
