The city of Los Angeles will pay nearly $40 million to settle three lawsuits alleging abuses by the Los Angeles Police Department, including a case brought by the family of a Trader Joe's manager accidentally killed by a police officer who was shooting at a fleeing suspect.
Melyda “Mely” Corado was fatally shot in 2018 at the Silver Lake convenience store where she worked. Her father and brother sued the city and the officers involved in the shooting, alleging they recklessly opened fire in the crowded store.
The $9.5 million settlement with the Corado family, which had been previously negotiated but not disclosed, was the smallest of three payments the City Council approved Friday.
The others were:
- $17.7 million for the family of Kenneth French, a 32-year-old mentally disabled man who was shot and killed by an off-duty Los Angeles Police Department officer inside a Costco in Corona in June 2019.
- $11.8 million for James Simpson, an elderly man who suffered a traumatic brain injury after being struck by a toppled traffic signal pole in an accident caused by a Los Angeles Police Department detective running a red light.
The council approved all three agreements unanimously.
In a statement released through their lawyers, Corado's family said they “will always keep his memory alive.”
“Nothing will bring Mely back and we are forever heartbroken by her violent death caused by those who are supposed to protect and serve the community,” the statement read. “We hope this settlement sends a strong message to the Los Angeles Police Department and all law enforcement agencies across the country that officers must be mindful of their surroundings when firing their weapons.”
The family's attorneys called the settlement the largest pre-trial payment ever made in an LAPD shooting case.
“Mely’s death could have been completely prevented if the officers had followed their training and taken into account his priors when shooting,” said attorney Neil Gehlawat. “Officers must take into account the dangers to bystanders when using deadly force, and the officers here failed to do so.”
Corado was fatally shot on July 21, 2018, as two police officers pursued Gene Evin Atkins, who was suspected of shooting his grandmother and her girlfriend and then taking the younger woman hostage. Atkins led police on a lengthy chase in his grandmother’s car, during which he shot at officers, ran red lights and crashed into several vehicles, prosecutors said.
The chase ended at the Trader Joe's on Hyperion Avenue. Atkins stopped the car and ran into the store, which was packed with shoppers Saturday afternoon.
Atkins fired at the officers, who returned fire when he entered the store. One of the officer's bullets struck Corado, killing her. Atkins was wounded in the arm, but held customers and employees inside the store hostage for three hours before surrendering. His trial is pending.
The Los Angeles Police Department came under fire for shooting a bystander, which then-Chief Michel Moore described as “any officer's worst nightmare.”
In French’s case, the $17.7 million payout is roughly the same amount awarded by a federal jury in 2021 after Officer Salvador Sanchez was found to have used excessive and unreasonable force. Sanchez, who was later fired, was off-duty when he and French had a confrontation in a hot dog tasting line.
Sanchez's attorney claimed during the federal trial that he was knocked to the ground during the confrontation and believed French was armed. Sanchez's bullets killed French and wounded his mother and father.
The Police Commission determined Sanchez violated department policy. Sanchez also faced murder and assault charges, but the proceedings ended in a mistrial earlier this year. A call to the French family's attorney went unanswered Friday.
Simpson sued the city after suffering numerous injuries when LAPD Detective Alex Pozo ran a red light in Chino while driving a city-owned vehicle in August 2020. The driver of a pickup truck swerved to avoid hitting Pozo and crashed into a traffic pole, which fell on top of Simpson, 70, as he walked on the sidewalk.
The City Council voted against approving a settlement with a Los Angeles Police Department sergeant who filed a lawsuit after being repeatedly disciplined for controversial posts on his personal Facebook and Instagram accounts. The sergeant, Joel Sydanmaa, accused the LAPD of punishing him for expressing political views they didn’t like.
“We rejected their suggestion and asked them to go to trial,” said Councilman Bob Blumenfield.
Sydanmaa's attorney, Caleb Mason, said he was “disappointed” that city officials apparently backed away from what he described as a signed settlement agreement.
“My client waited three and a half years for a trial date and then agreed to vacate that date two weeks before his trial, based on the word of high-level officials at the city attorney’s office; he trusted them,” Mason said.
Friday’s payments add to more than $171 million in taxpayer money spent since 2019 to settle legal claims accusing the LAPD of wrongful death, excessive force, negligence, discrimination and more, according to records from the Los Angeles City Attorney’s office.
That figure could rise because the city is appealing several large payouts, including $4 million a jury awarded to then-Captain Lillian Carranza, who sued over a nude photo of her that was doctored to look like her and shared with co-workers.
