Long Beach Pays $200,000 to settle Police shooting case of Black Man Gunned Down by "Mistake"

• Police Were Looking for EVERYBODY:
  
• "Male, black, wearing dark jeans, a white T-shirt and a dark-colored jacket."

  The city of Long Beach has paid $200,000 to settle a civil rights lawsuit filed by a man wrongfully shot by police as he tried to avoid getting caught with drugs, city officials confirmed Friday. Dameon Calimon, 27, was on parole and unarmed when he was mistaken for a murder suspect in Central Long Beach on March 21, 2003, and shot three times in the upper body as he tried to pull a bag of marijuana from his pocket. The officer believed Calimon was reaching for a gun, said Deputy City Attorney Barry Meyers, who handled the case on behalf of the city. Calimon lived and his hospital bills totaled close to $100,000, Meyers said. The actual gunman, a teenage gang member, was caught a week later and charged with murder, police said. The settlement, paid Jan. 7, was authorized by the Long Beach City Council after U.S. District Court Judge Percy Anderson urged the city to accept responsibility for the shooting, Long Beach City Attorney Robert Shannon said.  "The wrong person was shot," he said. "The judge felt very strongly that we were negligent. We felt otherwise. (But) based on the court's strong recommendation, we (agreed) that the case be settled for $200,000." [more]