DEA Must Pay $3 Million in 2010 Killing of LA Teen
A federal judge Tuesday awarded $3 million to the family of an 18-year-old Los Angeles honors student who was gunned down by undercover DEA agents in a parking garage in 2010. But the judge also ruled the officers were not negligent in their actions.
[image:1 align:left caption:true]Zachary Champommier died when he drove into a Studio City shopping center parking lot to meet a friend. Also in the parking lot were a group of undercover officers, including DEA agents and LA County sheriff's deputies and LAPD officers who had been deputized by the DEA.
The cops were discussing a search warrant they had just served when they observed Champommier's friend walking in the parking garage. Suspecting the friend was breaking into cars, they detained him. When Champommier drove up, he saw his friend being accosted by people he didn't know and attempted to drive away from possible trouble.
Officers claimed that Champommier's vehicle struck a deputy as he attempted to leave the scene. Officers opened fire, killing the 18-year-old honor student and "band geek."
Both the DEA and the LA County Sheriff's Department said the shooting was justifiable because Champommier had tried to run down an officer.
"The nature of [Champommier's] aggressive actions, actually hitting the deputy -- that is not someone who is without some degree of fault," Sheriff Lee Baca said shortly after the shooting.
Champommier's mother, Carol, filed a wrongful death lawsuit, charging that federal and local drug enforcement officers were reckless in shooting at her son, who she claimed posed no reasonable threat.
US District Court Judge Michael Fitzgerald ruled that the DEA agents did have reason to believe they were in danger, but acted recklessly in shooting at Champommier's vehicle as it passed them because at that point they were no longer in danger.
Comments
And that 3 million comes out of our pockets
That 3 million dollar suit doesn't hurt the DEA, it just comes out of the taxpayers pockets. Its up to the taxpayers to act to tear down the DEA and trample that corrupt organization into pieces. They are like a dog without a leash.. it's time to put them in their kennel.
Corrupt Government law enforcement
This epidemic is funded by all of us law abiding citizens and we unfortunately have to brace ourselves for more.The drug war and the 911 events have opened up a floodgate of constitutional and civil rights wrongdoings. I myself have almost been beatin to death and robbed of everything I've worked for to.I was locked in a mental hospital in Northwest Iowa so as an attorney and my own father could take the inheitence due my daughter Olivia from her mother Marge who died in 1999 and her grandparents farm in 2002.As a minor child I felt the sting and betrayal of the 3rd district court like none other.Betrayed by both sides of family as they stole her mother and Olivias savings and millions in land plus even more from her grandparents. In 2010 the ATF came to our home shortly after Olivia graduated and 6 and half years after my illegal incarceration and extortion to come to my house and serve a warrant from ATF agent Zane Dod and all the highway patrol and local sheriff to our home and round up all the fruits of my hard work,Marges and her deceased husband Dave Krugers hard work and passion for hunting and shooting sport clays. 22 I believe was the number of weapons taken {stolen} from our home.I looked and so can you at the Kansas City DOJ, this did not happen.The last theft I hired Atty.Jay Den and he like the rest will take your money and as he told me :You would risk chance of Fed Indictment: I told him YES as I have not to this day seen a judge.At any rate he robbed me like the rest and this piece of poop "thats putting it lightly"Owed me a couple or few hundred back and sucked it up for postage and sec svcs.This fraud of justice even makes recomendations to the Iowa State Supreme Justices on how to make the courts run more Smoothly.I feel your pain and we are thankful to be alive.I dont know what we Americans can do? We are all victims and if its happening in Rock Rapids,Iowa, its happening everywhere.Again I can not sympathize how sorry and saddened I am to see stories with so much in common that I'm scarred and fear those that the govt depleat of their rightious belongingings,right to own property through the constitution and enrichment of their bank accts. at our exspense without due process or trial with fraudulent fordged documents.Our Senator Charles Grassley is coming to Rock Rapids,Iowa August,28,2013 at 1:15 and I'm hoping as head of the judiciary committie he can help all of US.Pray that he can!
Nothing would please me more
Nothing would please me more than to see the DEA be completely dissolved. They're a bunch of parasites who use their government-granted law enforcement powers to illegally confiscate all our assets and use them to fund the next round of seizures.
Fuck the DEA.
petition the DEA to liquidate
This hardly seems like justice
Still can't imagine that
Still can't imagine that instead of confessing the mistake they made, they tried to cover up the whole situation. And he was just 18. Shame. - Adam Gottbetter
So how is this not
So how is this not unconstitutional from the get-go???? Don't we, as Americans, have the basic right of not being harassed or detained under assumption? They said themselves they saw the kid walking and assumed he might be trying to break into cars. And maybe the now dead child assumed these unmarked assholes were thugs and he was trying to save his friend. What it what if what if? So that just makes it okay for the Agency and not for basic American civilians? I despise the way our government has separated itself from this country.
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