TACOMA, Wash. — Pierce County has paid nearly $2 million in a settlement with a man who became paralyzed as a result of a police shooting three years ago.
On May 12, 2022, Bryan Galeana Mendoza was driving what police said was a vehicle that was stolen at gunpoint days earlier. Pierce County sheriff deputy Brian Johnson spotted the vehicle and stopped it.
Johnson walked up to the driver’s side and demanded the driver get out of the vehicle. Mendoza sped off to his home, where he ran from the car to a motorcycle that was parked outside the home.
According to the Seattle Times, Johnson followed Mendoza to the home and fired three times toward the fleeing motorcycle.
Mendoza was hit in the spine.
He was paralyzed from the waist down as a result.
A judge ruled that the shooting was justified. Mendoza was charged for the alleged car theft, hit-and-run and attempting to elude.
Mendoza filed a suit against Pierce County, Johnson and then-sheriff Ed Troyer, alleging battery, negligence in training and other claims.
In a settlement, the county paid him $1.75 million.
“It is understood and agreed that this settlement is the compromise of disputed claims and that the payment outlined herein is not to be construed as an admission of liability on the part of County of Pierce, State of Washington, its current and former officials, officers, agents, assigns, and employed, and specifically the individually-named defendants in both their official capacity and individual capacity, by whom liability is expressly denied," the settlement read.
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