GIVING AWAY TAXPAYERS MONEY

by Bob Walsh

A tragedy occurred in Sonoma County in 2013. Another one occurred this week. The two are tied together.

In October of 2013 a Sonoma County Sheriff's Deputy shot and killed Andy Lopez, 13. He was walking down the street with what looked like an AK-47 in plain view and a pistol in the waist band of his pants. A Deputy pulled up behind him, stopped, and ordered him to drop the gun. Instead he turned. The deputy shot him to death. The AK and the pistol were both airsoft guns. The AK had the orange plastic tip removed.

The D.A. said it was a legal shooting. The family sued.

This week the other tragedy occurred when the County Board of Supervisors gave the family $3 million. One of the family's main snivels was that nobody in his right mind would walk down the street carrying an AK so the deputy should have KNOWN that it was a toy. I am comfortable every cop in the county would NOT want to bet his life on that assumption.

The kid was also somewhat stoned at the time but I guess nobody thinks there was any contributory negligence there.

I grant you a jury might have given more on a sympathy verdict, but maybe not. Maybe they should be made to work for it on general principle.