Family of Yuba County man shot by police after high-speed chase files federal suit
The family of a Yuba County man shot dead after leading police and sheriff deputies on a chase that reached 102 mph and firing out of the window of his truck has sued in federal court, alleging wrongful death and excessive use of force by police.
Donn Moore, 22, was shot to death near Marysville last September, in an incident involving Yuba City police officers, Yuba County Sheriff deputies and California Highway Patrol officers.
The lawsuit filed Tuesday in Sacramento federal court and a report by the Yuba County District Attorney’s Office released earlier this year exonerating the officers involved in Moore’s death tell similar stories, but they draw vastly different conclusions.
His family says that police had other options besides shooting and killing Moore. They say in their lawsuit that he fired his Jennings .22-caliber semi-automatic handgun in the air after the chase, not at them, and that there were no bullets in it after the incident. Moore only had the gun, the lawsuit said, because he was trying to keep cats away from his grandfather’s feed store.
They are alleging that Yuba City, which is in Sutter County, and Yuba County are responsible for wrongful death, using excessive force, failing to train officers properly and depriving the family of the right to a relationship with their loved one.
The incident started when Moore’s Ford F-150 pickup truck was spotted driving very slowly near businesses that police said had recently experienced burglaries, attracting the attention of sheriff deputies. But when deputies tried to stop him, he led them on a chase that authorities said exceeded 90 mph and Moore’s family said reached 102 mph.
The officers chasing Moore on Highway 20 said they believed that he was upset, high on methamphetamine and armed because they had received a phone call from his former girlfriend alleging domestic abuse and warning them that he had threatened to commit “suicide by cop,” both documents said.
He was eventually forced to stop after a CHP officer threw down spike strips that disabled his truck. Officers ordered him out of the vehicle. But Moore continued to spin its wheels and rev the engine, the D.A.’s report, which was released in January, said. He then “stuck his right arm and head out of the driver’s window and pointed a handgun at the officers,” the report said.
“Mr. Moore fired the gun,” the D.A.’s report said. “All the officers believed Mr. Moore had or was about to shoot at them.”
After Moore fired his weapon, the officers shot 37 rounds at the truck, the lawsuit says. One hit Moore in the back of his head, killing him, the lawsuit says.
The lawsuit is seeking unspecified damages on behalf of Moore’s estate represented by his mother, his three children and his brother, whom the family said was on a video call with him throughout the incident.
“Despite the plethora of tactical options and strategic advantages possessed by the law enforcement personnel on scene, deadly force was exercised in the absence of any apparent justification,” the lawsuit said. “Several law enforcement officers fired excessive rounds at Moore.”
