Attorney: Family of 16-year-old driver fatally shot by Stanislaus deputy will file claim
The family of a 16-year-old Riverbank boy fatally shot by a sheriff’s deputy at the end of a May 18 early morning car chase plans on filing a claim against Stanislaus County, according to the family’s attorney.
Sacramento attorney Mark Merin said Thursday that he has been retained by Xander Mann’s family and the claim could be filed as soon as Friday. Merin said he expects the county will reject it and he and the family will file a federal lawsuit alleging excessive force, violation of civil rights, wrongful death and negligence.
Merin said Mann’s family is too distraught to comment now.
Mann had four other teens in his car when he drove off from deputies from a traffic stop in Modesto. He led them as well as Modesto police officers on a 20-minute, 15-mile chase that ended when authorities used what is called a PIT maneuver that caused Mann’s car to spin out and crash.
Authorities have said that deputy Gerardo Zazueta shot Mann as Mann drove toward him after spinning out and crashing.
Merin said the teenage passengers in the car dispute authorities’ account of the shooting. They said Mann was trying to stop when Zazueta approached the driver’s side and started shooting.
“Deputy Zazueta had no time nor place to retreat,” Sheriff Jeff Dirkse said when releasing bodycam footage of the incident last week.
Mann had recently gotten out of juvenile hall and used poor judgment in fleeing from deputies, Merin said.
But he said deputies exhibited poor judgment and incompetence in pursuing teenagers over a minor offense and using the dangerous PIT maneuver. He said Zazueta violated at least two department policies because he did not turn on his body camera when he got out of his vehicle and he shot into a moving car.
This story was originally published June 3, 2021 at 4:25 PM.
