A Placer County sheriff’s deputy shot and paralyzed him. Here’s why he’s suing now.

A San Mateo man who was shot by a Placer County Sheriff’s Office deputy last year and permanently paralyzed from the waist down is suing the county, alleging the shooting was excessive and unnecessary.

Last January, a deputy responded to a call at a North Lake Tahoe vacation rental that a family member, Samuel Kolb, was acting “strange,” according to a sheriff’s office press release at the time. It alleged that Kolb later “stabbed the deputy with a sharp instrument,” though it did not penetrate his ballistic vest, prompting the deputy to shoot Kolb and “end the attack.”

But a federal lawsuit filed Friday claims Kolb never stabbed the deputy, identified as Curtis Honeycutt. It further alleges that Kolb was suffering a severe epileptic episode leading him to act in a “dream-like state,” and that the office failed to provide necessary medical assistance.

“We dispute categorically the characterization of events by the deputy,” said his attorney Ronald Kaye. “We’re confident the evidence shows that he was in no risk of seriously injuring” Honeycutt.

The Sheriff’s Office said in a statement Tuesday it is aware of the lawsuit filed by Kolb. It reiterated that Kolb stabbed a deputy in the chest with a 10-inch double prong barbecue skewer, and that during a second stabbing attempt, the deputy fired his weapon.

“The Placer County District Attorney’s Office also reviewed the incident and determined ‘the deputy had no other choice but to use deadly force’ to defend himself (and) the deputy’s actions were reasonable to protect his life,” the statement reads.

According to the lawsuit, Kolb has a history of experiencing altered mental states in which he loses awareness of his surroundings, and was previously advised by a doctor that he may have temporal lobe epilepsy. Though this condition can be difficult to diagnose, symptoms include sudden odd feelings, unresponsiveness and staring, according to the Mayo Clinic.

The lawsuit said Kolb had not suffered an episode for more than a decade prior to the ski trip last January in Lake Tahoe with his son. On the evening of Jan. 13, 2018, the two smoked marijuana together before falling asleep, the lawsuit stated.

In the early hours of the next day, Kolb woke up and began pacing around the cabin, “repeating his childhood address and making nonsensical statements,” according to the lawsuit. His son then called 911.

“(His son) did not believe, nor did he represent (to the 911 dispatcher), that his father presented any danger to his safety,” the lawsuit stated.

When Honeycutt arrived at the house, Kolb’s son and Kolb were standing in the driveway, according to both the lawsuit and the sheriff’s office press release. Kolb was wearing only a short-sleeved shirt and pajama bottoms despite the cold, with “a blank stare on (his) face, as if he was staring out in space,” the lawsuit stated.

Once the three entered the house, Kolb, still in a “dreamlike state,” picked up a carving fork, according to the lawsuit.

In response to Kolb’s raising the fork, Honeycutt began “repeatedly, unreasonably and unjustifiably discharging his office issued firearm,” the lawsuit states.

In a press release at the time posted on Facebook, the Placer County Sheriff’s Office said the deputy believed his life was in danger.

“The rapidly evolving circumstances did not provide time for alternatives such as retreating a safe distance or using other force options and the deputy was forced to use his service weapon to end the attack,” the statement said.

Kolb later pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor offense of exhibiting a deadly weapon other than a firearm, according to Placer County Superior Court records, and a felony charge of assault upon a peace officer was dropped.

“We will never dispute he had a fork in his hand,” Kaye said, “but to the end of our days we’ll fight vigilantly that to shoot a man and essentially come a hair’s breadth from killing him based on his actions is unconstitutional.”

“A guy raising two kids and a family with no criminal history, a college graduate, on a ski vacation, and they have the nerve to say he’s the bad guy,” Kaye said, referring to the Sheriff’s Office.

The gunshots shattered his vertebrae, causing him to become paralyzed from the waist down, according to the lawsuit. He now lacks bowel and bladder control, cannot engage in normal sexual activity, and likely has a shorter life expectancy, the lawsuit said.

The extent of damages Kolb is seeking has yet to be determined, Kaye said, but added “a case like this, he needs care for the rest of his life.”

“He’s lost income and potential investment income, you name a topic of how he’s been damaged (and he) qualifies,” Kaye said.

This story was originally published January 16, 2019 at 3:30 AM.