Man’s family seeks charges in fatal shooting by officer
The family of an unarmed man fatally shot by Los Angeles police last year following a car chase called on prosecutors Wednesday to charge the officer who opened fire.
The plea by relatives of Sergio Navas came a day after the city’s Police Commission found that the shooting violated the LAPD’s policy on using deadly force. A lawyer representing Navas’ parents and the mother of his children said Officer Brian Van Gorden showed “enormous negligence” when he shot and killed Navas in Burbank.
“Not every day do you see the Police Commission admit that a police officer has gone astray, that a police officer has acted incorrectly,” attorney Luis Carrillo said to reporters. “And for that we are happy. The next step is he should not be a police officer.”
The March 5 shooting of Navas quickly raised concerns within the Los Angeles Police Department, but was publicly overshadowed by another LAPD shooting that drew international attention: the killing of Charly “Africa” Keunang on skid row. Keunang, 43, was shot by officers four days before Navas was killed.
In that case, officers tried to stop Navas after they spotted him speeding in a gold Mercury Sable in Toluca Lake, but the 35-year-old took off toward Burbank, according to a report LAPD Chief Charlie Beck submitted to the Police Commission.
Navas came to an abrupt halt on National Avenue, a dead-end street. The officer who was driving the police SUV told investigators later that he was driving too fast to stop behind the Sable and had to veer alongside the car to avoid hitting it, the report said.
The officer sitting in the passenger seat said Navas then got out of the car, slammed the door and turned to face him, according to the report. At that point, the officer said, he couldn’t see Navas’ hands and thought Navas was “trying to trap [him] in the car” and “ambush” him.
“I was like, this guy is going to try to shoot me,” the officer told investigators. “I didn’t want to wait around to find out.”
Navas was shot twice, according to his autopsy, then ran to a nearby alley, where he died.
The Police Commission agreed with Beck’s conclusion that an officer with similar training and experience would not have considered Navas a threat. The board faulted both officers for their tactics leading up to the shooting.
On Tuesday, Van Gorden’s attorney said the officer thought he was in danger when Navas got out of the vehicle. “The officer was faceto-face with the suspect and believed he was going to shoot him,” Gary Fullerton said. “If you wait, there’s a good chance you’re a dead man.”
Christel Emmet, the mother of Navas’ three children, said she was overjoyed by the Police Commission’s decision.
“I want to see what the D.A. is going to do,” she said.
Navas’ parents and children have filed a federal wrongful death lawsuit against the city. Carrillo, their attorney, noted Wednesday that LAPD Chief Beck recently recommended criminal charges against an officer who fatally shot an unarmed homeless man near the Venice boardwalk last year. Prosecutors are reviewing that case.
“I would hope that Chief Beck does the same thing he did in connection with the Venice shooting,” Carrillo said.
Earlier this week, Beck declined to say whether he thought Van Gorden should be charged, saying the investigation was “much less clear than the Venice shooting.”
“This is something that the district attorney is going to have to look at,” Beck said.
On Tuesday, a spokeswoman for the district attorney’s office said prosecutors received the LAPD report on Navas’ death on Friday and were still reviewing the material.
Navas’ mother, Rosa, grew emotional as she talked about her son’s death. “It’s not fair,” she said in Spanish.
“All I beg for is justice, because nothing will bring my son back,” she said.
As she spoke, Navas’ father nodded silently at the end of the table. His eyes brimmed with tears.
kate.mather@latimes.com Twitter: @katemather Times staff writer Veronica Rocha contributed to this report.