LAWSUIT IMPLIES THAT ARMED THUGS SHOULD GET TO SHOOT AT COPS FIRST

Bob Walsh says the family of an armed thug shot to death by the Oakland PD has the notion that even though their son was armed with two handguns, one of which had been fired, the cops should not have shot him because he did not shoot at them first. Maybe if they had done a better job of raising the little crud the cops wouldn’t have had occasion to shoot his sorry ass.

FAMILY OF MAN KILLED BY OAKLAND COP SUES CITY
By Henry K. Lee

San Francisco Chronicle
January 8, 2012

The family of an armed man shot dead by Oakland police at the end of a high-speed chase last year has filed a wrongful-death lawsuit against the city.

Martin Flenaugh, 19, of Oakland was a passenger in the car police were chasing Jan. 26, 2011, in connection with a shootout moments earlier. He had a 9mm semiautomatic gun in one hand and a .45-caliber handgun in the other and was shot when he refused to drop the weapons after the car ran a red light, crashed into two vehicles and burst into flames at 85th Avenue and San Leandro Street in East Oakland, police said.

But Flenaugh's mother, Spring Mathews of San Mateo, said in a lawsuit filed Friday in Alameda County Superior Court that "no reports suggest he fired a weapon at the police officers before they shot at him."

The lawsuit also said Flenaugh was "left to bleed and die in the street without being provided early or appropriate medical care."

The suit, which seeks unspecified damages, further said that police failed to "correct the defective communication system" used by the department, citing reports by officers that radio problems during the chase forced them to rely on hand signals and cell phones. The department is now using a new radio system.

Alameda County prosecutors said the officer who shot and killed Flenaugh, Richard McNeely, had acted properly and would not face criminal charges. Deputy District Attorney John Creighton wrote in a report that Flenaugh, who had convictions for burglary and marijuana possession, may have fired a .45-caliber gun at McNeely because a casing was found at the scene.

The incident began when police responded to reports that men in a maroon Infiniti had fired shots on the 7600 block of Lockwood Avenue. No one was hurt. Police found spent 9mm and .45-caliber casings at that location. After the crash, the driver, parolee Jereme Brown, was arrested after he ran to a nearby auto shop.