LA to Pay $11.8M Police Settlement
- Los Angeles agreed to pay $11.8 million to a man blinded by a police projectile during a Dodgers victory celebration. - The city settled after the incident left the man permanently blinded, prompting scrutiny of LAPD crowd-control tactics. - Civil-rights advocates call for policy changes and accountability as the city faces mounting lawsuits (independent.co.uk).
A federal jury ordered Los Angeles to pay $11.8 million to Isaac Castellanos, who was blinded in one eye by a police projectile during a Dodgers celebration downtown. (apnews.com) The verdict came on Thursday, April 16, after Castellanos sued over the early hours of Oct. 28, 2020, when fans poured into downtown Los Angeles after the Dodgers won the World Series. Castellanos was 22 then and is 27 now. (abcnews.com) Jurors found two Los Angeles Police Department officers, Cody MacArthur and Jesse Pineda, liable for excessive force and negligence after a trial in federal court. Castellanos said he was peacefully celebrating when a projectile struck his face. (news.bloomberglaw.com) The case turns on weapons police call “less-lethal” launchers: impact rounds meant to disperse crowds without using live ammunition. LAPD training materials say 37mm and 40mm kinetic-energy projectiles are crowd-control tools governed by department force rules and California limits. (lapdonline.org) Castellanos argued the officers fired into a crowd without justification and in violation of LAPD policy. News reports on the trial said he lost vision permanently in his right eye. (courthousenews.com) The award lands as LAPD’s crowd-control tactics are already under court pressure. In January, Chief Jim McDonnell’s office issued a notice barring use of 40mm kinetic-impact projectiles for crowd control after a federal judge found the city in contempt over protest policing. (lapdonline.org) LAPD has also told the public that crowd-control munitions are subject to warnings, de-escalation rules and limits on when chemical agents or projectiles can be used. Department training materials cite Assembly Bill 48, the California law that tightened those rules starting Jan. 1, 2022. (lapdonline.org) The payout is one of the biggest recent crowd-control injury awards against the city. LAist reported Los Angeles has paid more than $19 million in liabilities tied to LAPD crowd-control actions since the start of 2020, with Castellanos’ verdict the largest in that period. (laist.com) City officials did not immediately get relief from the jury’s decision, and the verdict now stands as the clearest accounting yet of what one rubber projectile cost. For Castellanos, the celebration ended in 2020; for Los Angeles, the bill arrived in 2026. (ocregister.com)
