$50 Million Dollar Suit Filed in Shooting that Sparked Riots: Anaheim Police Officer Fatally Shot Defenseless Latino Man in the Back of the Head while he was on the ground
/Video of the immediate moments after police killed Diaz. In the video Diaz was still alive--and police stood there for over three minutes and did nothing. Instead, they seem more concerned with pushing witnesses away from the scene, the better to diminish the video quality of the footage, when they weren't actively trying to block the source from recording. From [HERE] and [HERE] An Anaheim policeman who was named rookie of the year and whose name recently appeared on a charity fight card was identified Tuesday as the officer who fatally shot a man who police say ran when officers tried to apprehend him. Nick Bennallack was named in a civil lawsuit filed by the family of Manuel Diaz, 25, whose July 21 shooting, followed by another officer-involved fatal shooting the next day, ignited days of protests in Anaheim.
Police initially refused to identify the officers involved in the two shootings, saying they had received death threats. In September, Investigator Kelly Phillips was named as the officer involved in the second shooting, which killed Joel Acevedo.
Diaz's family filed a $50 million lawsuit against Anaheim and the Police Department, alleging federal civil-rights violations and wrongful death. Diaz was responding "instinctively" when he fled as Bennallack approached, the suit said. The suit says Bennallack shot toward Diaz's legs, making him fall, and then he or another officer fired a second gunshot into the back of Diaz's head. The officer with Bennallack that day has not been identified.
Alleging the force used by officers was "unjustified and excessive," the suit says, "this conduct was intentional, reckless and in violation of Manuel Diaz's Constitutional rights."
The Anaheim police union says Diaz ran when officers tried to contact him, holding a "concealed object in his front waist area with both hands." The officers chased him, a police union statement said, yelling at him to stop. After a short foot pursuit, the man pulled the "object" from his waistband and turned toward officers; fearing he was drawing a weapon, an officer opened fire, the statement said.
After the shooting, Anaheim police said Diaz was not armed. The union declined to say what the object the officer reported seeing was.
On Tuesday, the family's attorneys added more causes of action to the complaint, alleging the department was negligent in the hiring, training and retention of Bennallack and other officers.
Anaheim police Sgt. Bob Dunn confirmed Tuesday that Bennallack was the officer who fired in the first shooting, which killed Diaz. He said Bennallack is back on patrol.
As is customary for all officer-involved shootings, the Orange County District Attorney's Office is investigating the deaths.
Diaz's family has expressed outrage at Bennallack's return to duty. On Tuesday, its attorney, Dana Douglas, reiterated those concerns.
"The community deserves better than it is getting," she said in a statement. "And the family of Manuel Diaz deserves justice, which begins by removing the shooter from the streets and arresting him."
Diaz's mother attended an Anaheim City Council meeting Tuesday to say that she's run out of patience in the investigation of her son's death and urged that the officer who shot her son be "taken off the street."
Genevieve Huizar said she saw news reports mention the officer who shot and killed her son for the first time Tuesday.
"The police officer who killed my son needs to be taken off the street," she told the City Council, as the mother of another man shot and killed by Anaheim police stood beside her and stroked her shoulders for support.
Huizar also blasted District Attorney Tony Rackauckas, who was at the council meeting to speak on an unrelated issue.
"As I read about justified murders, is that what I'm looking forward to (in my son's case)?" she asked.
"I want a recall of this D.A. He is not doing his job," she said.
Then, turning to Rackauckas, she said: "You, sir, please do your job correctly. ... My son is not going to be killed in vain."
Kerry Condon, president of the Anaheim Police Association, disputed Bennallack should be removed.
"In my opinion, he had no wrongdoing in the shooting and until otherwise proven, he should be back in the street," he said.
Condon said Bennallack is a five-year veteran of the Anaheim Police Department, where he has been awarded the department's Medal of Distinguished Service and the Rookie of the Year award.
An Internet search shows Bennallack as a boxer ranked by the United Combat Association, an organization that ranks law enforcement, military and firefighters in amateur boxing.
A Pechanga Resort & Casino fight card from September posted online lists the officer as Nick "Buckshot" Bennallack, with a nickname also used by Diaz family attorneys in the lawsuit, as 27 years old.
The incident involving Diaz, 25, was the first of two fatal officer-involved shootings that July weekend. The lawsuit contends the shooting was part of a pattern of abuse by Anaheim police against Latinos, who make up a majority in the city of 340,000.