The city of Los Angeles will pay nearly $40 million to settle three lawsuits alleging abuse by the LAPD, including a lawsuit brought by the family of a Trader Joe’s manager who was accidentally killed by a police officer who shot a fleeing suspect.
Melyda “Mely” Corado was fatally shot in 2018 at the Silver Lake store where she worked. Her father and brother sued the city and the police officers involved in the shooting, alleging they recklessly opened fire in the crowded store.
The $9.5 million settlement with the Corado family, which was previously negotiated but not disclosed, was the smallest of three payments approved by the City Council Friday.
The others were:
- $17.7 million for the family of Kenneth French, a 32-year-old mentally disabled man fatally shot by an off-duty LAPD officer at a Costco in Corona in June 2019.
- $11.8 million for James Simpson, an elderly man who suffered head trauma after being struck by a toppled traffic light pole in a crash caused by an LAPD detective who ran a red light.
The council approved all three regulations unanimously.
In a statement released through their lawyers, Corado’s family members said they would “keep his memory alive forever.”
“Nothing will bring Mely back and we are forever saddened by her violent death at the hands of those who are supposed to protect and serve the community,” the statement read. “We hope this settlement sends a strong message to the LAPD and all law enforcement agencies across the country that officers must be mindful of their surroundings when firing their weapons.”
Family lawyers called the settlement the largest pretrial settlement ever awarded in an LAPD shooting case.
“Mely’s death could have been prevented if the officers had followed their training and considered their backgrounds when they fired,” said attorney Neil Gehlawat. “Officers must consider the dangers that deadly force poses to bystanders, 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 young woman hostage. Atkins led police on a lengthy chase in his grandmother’s car, during which he fired at officers, ran red lights and collided with several vehicles, prosecutors alleged.
The chase ended at Trader Joe’s on Hyperion Avenue. Atkins stopped the car and ran toward the store, which was crowded with Saturday afternoon shoppers.
Atkins fired at the officers, who returned fire as he entered the store. One of the officer’s bullets struck Corado, killing her. Atkins was wounded in the arm, but he held customers and employees hostage inside the store for three hours before surrendering. His trial is ongoing.
The LAPD was heavily criticized for shooting a bystander, which then-Chief Michael Moore described as “every cop’s worst nightmare.”
In French’s case, the $17.7 million settlement is roughly in line with the amount awarded by a federal jury in 2021 after Officer Salvador Sanchez was found guilty of using excessive and unreasonable force. Sanchez, who was later fired, was off-duty when he and French clashed in a lineup for sausages.
Sanchez’s attorney testified at the federal trial that he was knocked to the ground during the fight and believed French was armed. Sanchez’s bullets killed French and wounded his mother and father.
The police commission found Sanchez violated department policy. Sanchez was also charged with involuntary manslaughter and assault, but the charges ended in a mistrial earlier this year. A call to the French family’s attorney went unanswered Friday.
Simpson sued the city after suffering multiple injuries when LAPD Detective Alex Pozo ran a red light in Chino while driving a city-owned vehicle in August 2020. The driver of an SUV swerved to avoid colliding with Pozo and struck a traffic pole, which fell on Simpson, 70, as he was walking on the sidewalk.
The City Council voted against a settlement with an LAPD sergeant who sued after he was repeatedly disciplined for controversial posts on his personal Facebook and Instagram accounts. The sergeant, Joel Sydanmaa, accused the LAPD of singling him out for punishment because he expressed political views he 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 reneged on what he described as a signed settlement agreement.
“My client waited three and a half years to get a trial date, then agreed to vacate that date two weeks before his trial, based on the word of senior city attorney officials – he trusted them,” Mason said.
Friday’s payments are in addition to more than $171 million in taxpayer money spent since 2019 to resolve 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 as the city appeals several major awards, including the $4 million a jury awarded to former captain Lillian Carranza, who sued over a nude photo that was doctored to look like her and shared with colleagues.
