Modesto pays $750K to settle shooting by officer during a domestic disturbance call
Modesto has settled a lawsuit for $750,000 involving an officer shooting and wounding a man as police responded to a call involving a disturbance at a home.
The shooting occurred just after midnight at the man’s home near Coffee Road and Morris Avenue on Oct. 17, 2014. Jesse Montelongo was shot in the stomach by Officer Dave Wallace. Montelongo survived the shooting.
The settlement was reached in spring of this year, and the case was dismissed July 31. The lawsuit was filed in federal court in 2015.
Wallace — who retired in 2018 — shot Montelongo 3.3 seconds after he opened the front door and stood with the right side of his body angled toward the door, obscuring his arm, according to a previous Bee story and police body camera video of the incident.
Wallace ordered Montelongo twice to “Show me your hands” before Montelongo tossed a middle school yearbook at him from about 11 to 14 feet away. Wallace fired once as Montelongo retreated into the home.
Wallace fired at Montelongo 1.5 seconds after the book was thrown, according to Internal Affairs reports obtained by The Bee through a public records request.
Wallace and Officer Michael Callahan had gone to Montelongo’s home with information from a dispatcher that a woman had called 911 multiple times saying, “Help me,” before the line disconnected, according to the reports. On at least one of the occasions, the dispatcher heard the woman say, “My son has a …” before the line disconnected.
Montelongo, his mother, his sister and five children were at the home during the incident.
Wallace and Callahan spoke to Montelongo’s sister in the driveway prior to approaching the house, according to the previous Bee story.
She said she hadn’t been in the house but had talked to her mother. She told them her brother was drunk. “He’s threatening her, not like that kind of threatening, just in her face, wouldn’t let her go to sleep, tearing things off the wall, that kind of stuff,” she is heard saying in the police body camera video.
After knocking on the door, Wallace and Callahan could hear Montelongo’s mother calling for help. Montelongo opened the door a few seconds later.
Then-Police Chief Galen Carroll told The Bee in 2020 that Wallace did not have time to perceive what was in Montelongo’s hand. Carroll said all Wallace saw was a man refusing to comply with orders and putting his hand up in a very aggressive manner.
“If he knew it was a book, he wouldn’t have shot at him,” Carroll said. “When you are reacting to stuff, you are behind what the person has already decided to do.”
“This was Montelongo’s decision,” Carroll said. “... It was up to him how this was going to turn out. We are there because he is abusing his mom, his mom is crying for help, the officer is telling him to show his hands, and he decides to bring up his hands in the manner that he did.”
Officer cleared in shooting
Wallace was cleared of any criminal wrongdoing by the Stanislaus County District Attorney’s Office, and the Police Department determined the shooting was within department policy and justified.
DeWitt Lacy, one of the attorneys representing Montelongo, told The Bee in 2020 that his client underwent multiple surgeries as a result of the shooting and will likely have lifelong gastrointestinal issues because of it.
“It doesn’t seem reasonable in light of all the facts that this officer who has been on the force many years had a difficult time ascertaining that a middle school yearbook was not a threat to his life,” Lacy said in 2020.
Another attorney representing Montelongo did not respond to an email seeking comment.
Modesto will bear the cost of the $750,000 settlement and its legal costs up to $1 million. The city has insurance to cover costs above $1 million. How much the city spent on defending itself in this lawsuit was not immediately available.
The city this year formed a Community Police Review Board and hired the Southern California-based OIR Group to serve as an independent police auditor. The firm has provided similar services to 30 agencies. Modesto has taken these steps in response to the growing local and nationwide conversations about policing.
This story was originally published September 1, 2023 at 10:30 AM.
