Exclusive: $4.1 million paid out to families of teen, driver shot to death by Ceres officers
Two federal lawsuits filed against Ceres and its Police Department have been settled for a combined $4.1 million.
In one incident, officers fatally shot a driver after he had led them on a high-speed chase and tried to run them over, police said. In the other, an officer fatally shot a 15-year-old boy in the back as he ran after a vehicle pursuit, according to attorneys.
The settlements were reached last month, said Sacramento attorney Mark Merin, one of the attorneys representing the families of 27-year-old Nicholas Pimentel of Modesto and 15-year-old Carmen Spencer Mendez of Hughson.
The Pimentel settlement is for $2 million, and the Mendez settlement is for $2.1 million.
Merin said the fatal shootings were unnecessary because officers could have used nonlethal methods to apprehend the two suspects and the shootings point to an out-of-control Police Department.
“They need some serious change there,” he said in an interview. “It shows a total lack of respect for human life. Officers are not being reined in at all. ... Guns should be the last resort. They have so many alternatives. ... It’s shocking they have so little concern for human life.”
Ceres denied liability or wrongdoing in both shootings, according to the settlement agreements. Insurance paid the settlements. Ceres belongs to the Central San Joaquin Valley Risk Management Authority, and it pays the authority a premium to handle its lawsuits.
City Manager Toby Wells said Merin’s comments are what he expects from an attorney suing the city and don’t reflect the reality of the Police Department. “Everyone knows that law enforcement is a very, very difficult profession,” he said. “You have to make split-second decisions that have lasting impacts on the officer and all of those involved.”
Sgt. Darren Venn and Officer Ross Bays fired their weapons at Pimentel on Oct. 22, 2017, and about 10 months later, Bays shot Mendez on Aug. 18, 2018. Both are veteran police officers.
Bays shot Mendez in the back as the teen was running away in an orchard in a rural area between Denair and Hughson, according to attorneys for the boy’s family.
Authorities have said the shooting came after a vehicle pursuit that began several miles away in Ceres, with police responding to reports of someone in a Lexus sedan brandishing a gun in a park and the Lexus then being involved in a hit-and-run accident.
Based on a review of Bays’ body camera footage and other evidence, attorneys for the family said Bays got out of his patrol vehicle, steadied himself and then fired at Mendez as the boy ran away. Attorneys said Bays did not issue any commands, such as telling Mendez to stop or put his hands up before shooting him. They said Mendez was 30 to 35 yards from the officer.
“He (Bays) didn’t say anything (before discharging his weapon),” Merin said. “He didn’t announce any of the basic, nonlethal commands.”
Officer fires first
Merin said Bays shot Mendez in the right elbow and between the shoulder blades. Merin said Bays had nonlethal alternatives, including waiting for other officers to set up a perimeter or deploying the police dog in his patrol vehicle. Bays is a K9 officer, according to records released by Ceres.
“In the back of his (patrol vehicle) was a living, breathing, panting German shepherd,” said Modesto attorney Adam Stewart, who represents Mendez’s mother. (Merin represents the father and other family members. The $2.1 million settlement was divided into $1.05 million for the mother and $1.05 million for the father and other family members.)
Stewart said an unloaded handgun was found near Mendez but said Mendez did not threaten or aim a weapon at Bays. “He was running away,” Stewart said, “fleeing the scene. At no time did he approach the officer.”
Attorney Bruce Praet, who represented Ceres, said he does not dispute that Mendez was shot in the back or Bays did not issue commands before shooting. But Praet said the body camera footage shows Mendez dropping a handgun as he got out of the car and picking it up before running.
Praet said the shooting needs to be evaluated in its entire context. He said Bays was dealing with a rapidly evolving incident that included a vehicle pursuit that reached 100 mph for several miles, the brandishing of a gun at a park, and a felony hit and run.
He said Bays had suspects still in the car (authorities have said the 20-year-old driver and three juvenile passengers surrendered) when Mendez ran. He said Mendez could have ambushed Bays or ran to nearby homes and taken hostages. Praet confirmed there was a police dog in Bays’ patrol vehicle, but said setting it loose could have resulted in it being shot.
Stewart said police dogs are trained for these situations and asked whether a dog’s life is worth more than a teenager’s. Merin disputed Praet’s account and challenged him to release Bays’ body camera footage. Ceres has refused to release its records related to the shooting, including the body camera footage. The Bee’s attorneys say these records are public records.
The Bee has unsuccessfully sought the footage and other records for several months under a state law — Senate Bill 1421 — that took effect Jan. 1, making these records public. Praet said the body camera footage is subject to a protective order issued by the judge in the lawsuit. Merin said the judge issued the order at Ceres’ request, and The Bee’s attorneys say the footage is releasable under state law.
Chase ends in south Modesto
Ceres did release some records to The Bee in the Pimentel shooting.
Sgt. Venn had pulled Pimentel over for speeding around 1 a.m. But Pimentel drove off, part of high-speed pursuit that lasted about 8 minutes and reached speeds of more than 100 mph. Pimentel drove with his lights off for part of it, ran red lights and nearly hit other drivers several times.
The pursuit ended near Imperial Avenue and Ustick Road in south Modesto when Venn hit Pimentel’s pickup, causing it to spin out. As Venn got out of his patrol vehicle, Pimentel put the pickup in reverse and backed toward him.
Venn got back into his vehicle and braced for the impact. But Bays, who was second in line in the pursuit, hit the pickup on the driver’s side and pinned it against a parked car. Both officers got out of their patrol vehicles and took up positions at Bays’ vehicle. Pimentel kept gunning his engine and spinning his tires as he tried to break free, putting the truck in reverse and drive.
Bays said Pimentel was gaining inches as he tried to break free and feared that would happen. Bays said Pimentel looked at him and turned his tires toward him and gunned his engine. Bays and Venn opened fire. Pimentel’s girlfriend was in the truck with him. Bays said he changed his position so she was not in his line of fire.
The Stanislaus County District Attorney’s Office found Venn and Bays were justified in the shooting and had acted in “self-defense and-or in the defense of others and to prevent the escape of a dangerous suspect,” according to a letter the office released in the shooting. The letter stated Pimentel had a blood alcohol level of 0.28 percent, more than three times the legal limit.
But Merin said the Sheriff’s Department helicopter had joined the pursuit — records provided by the Sheriff’s Department confirm that — and police should have backed off and let the helicopter track Pimentel. He also questioned the wisdom of Ceres police engaging in a reckless, high-speed pursuit to catch a speeding motorist who had refused to pull over.
“They endangered other people’s lives, and for what? A traffic violation,” Merin said.
Venn and Bays remain employed with Ceres, according to city officials, though Bays is on medical leave. Venn declined to comment for this story, and Bays could not be reached for comment. Neighbors reported and public records show Bays recently moved to Idaho.
“The death of Mr. Pimentel was tragic ...,” Police Chief Richard Collins said in an email. Venn and Bays “used force to protect themselves based on what they faced during their incident. Whether or not the shooting was warranted will remain a subject of debate. I stand by their decision.”
Collins said Mendez’s death also was a tragedy, but he could not comment further because he had not yet reviewed his department’s investigation of the shooting. He said the investigation is complete and awaiting final review. He said the DA’s office continues its criminal investigation of the shooting.
He said the Police Department’s review shows there were no policy violations in the Mendez shooting and one in the Pimentel shooting.
‘Did not deserve to be murdered’
Summer Pimentel acknowledged in a phone interview that her brother ran from police, but he should not have paid for that with his life.
“I think this goes to show there needs to be more oversight of the officers,” she said. “As citizens we are paying them to protect us, but they are killing us. My brother was wrong, absolutely. But he did not deserve to be murdered in cold blood right there on the street.”
Pimentel said she and other family members still are grieving the death of her brother and their mother, who Pimentel said died of a broken heart soon after her son’s death. But she is grateful the settlement sets aside money for a college fund for her brother’s 10-year-old son to ensure he gets a good start in life.
Mendez’s mother, Stephanie Beidleman, said, “This will never be behind me. It’s just a tough subject.”
But she said she recently donated $10,000 to Denair Youth Football in honor of her son, who had played for the team for two seasons. She said she plans on making more donations to youth sports in memory of her son.
Modesto Bee reporter Erin Tracy contributed to this report.
This story was originally published November 26, 2019 at 6:00 AM.
BEHIND THE STORY
MOREHow we did this story
The Bee had tried for months to get Ceres to release records in the shootings through a new law — SB 1421 — that made records involving police officer use of force, dishonesty and sexual assault public for the first time. But the city continued to resist for months but eventually started releasing records after The Bee’s attorneys’ pressed them. Then the lawsuits settled (which we were tracking through the court system), and we had a story based on the settlements plus the records we had. Ceres has since released all the records in the Pimentel shooting, and we wrote another story. Ceres will be releasing the records in Mendez, and we will have more coverage.
