Deputies beat and tased Rancho Cucamonga man to loss of life, lawsuit claims

The household of a Rancho Cucamonga resident who died after an encounter with San Bernardino County sheriff’s deputies final 12 months is suing town and the Sheriff’s Division, alleging extreme pressure and wrongful loss of life.

The incident occurred within the early morning of March 19, 2024, when San Bernardino County deputies responded to an unidentified caller’s report of an individual “in misery and behaving erratically,” in response to the household’s declare, which was filed final week in federal court docket in Los Angeles.

The Sheriff Division’s preliminary information launch mentioned deputies had been checking on reviews that somebody had “tried to open condo doorways, car doorways, and activated the condo’s fireplace alarm.”

Two feminine deputies arrived to seek out Mohd F. Hijaz, 32, seated on a curb close to a bush, unarmed, in response to the household’s grievance. The lawsuit says he was talking with a passing driver, who advised him they’d carry him water.

In keeping with the Sheriff’s Division, the deputies tried to maintain Hijaz at a distance, however he approached them regardless of instructions to cease. The deputies then deployed their tasers on him a number of occasions, in response to the household’s lawsuit.

One other patrol automobile with two male deputies arrived. When the 4 deputies tried to detain Hijaz, in response to the division, he struck one among them within the face.

The household’s grievance alleges that the deputies then used extreme pressure, hitting Hijaz with baton strikes and slamming his head onto the pavement. Hijaz sustained a number of accidents, went into cardiopulmonary arrest and was taken to San Antonio Regional Hospital in Upland, the place he was pronounced useless.

The plaintiffs within the lawsuit are Hijaz’s mom, Fathieh Jawdat Naji, his widow, Nada Osama Nafaa, and his toddler-aged baby.

“He was experiencing a psychological well being disaster, was visibly in misery, and was not partaking in legal conduct. There was no have to train any pressure, not to mention the extreme pressure,” they allege within the grievance.

Town of Rancho Cucamonga declined to remark. A spokesperson for the Sheriff’s Division mentioned it had no data obtainable past the information launch that was issued two days after Hijaz’s loss of life.

A lawyer for the household, Sa’id Vakili, mentioned they haven’t been contacted by the California Division of Justice, which is required to research the loss of life of an unarmed particular person solely when officers fireplace their weapons.

Vakili mentioned the post-mortem report, the deputies’ physique digital camera footage and surveillance footage from a close-by condo advanced haven’t been launched to the household.

“It’s very uncommon, provided that it’s been over a 12 months. [The Sheriff’s Department] have talked about that they may [release it], however they in the end haven’t,” Vakili mentioned. “We’re planning to get all that stuff by discovery. We’ll have an correct account of what occurred.”

Vakili mentioned the household has been in a position to entry images from the coroner’s workplace that depict the areas of his accidents from what seem like baton and taser strikes. The legal professional mentioned Hijaz had no historical past of violence previous to his loss of life.