Family files claim in Yuba County stun gun death

The family of a Linda man who died last year after being shot with a stun gun by Yuba County sheriff’s deputies has filed a $500,000 wrongful death claim.

County supervisors are scheduled to discuss the claim tonight during a closed session.

According to the claim, filed Jan. 5, Alfredo Flores-Bravo, 47, was shot by a stun gun by deputies responding to a report on July 5, 2011, of an altercation at Alicia Market in the 1100 block of Grand Avenue in Linda.

Deputies found Flores-Bravo in a field nearby after a clerk at the store reported he stabbed her with a pair of scissors after an argument over cigarettes.

“The Yuba County sheriff’s deputies unlawfully and without provocation, warning or legal cause, fired a department issue ‘Taser,’ striking Mr. Bravo-Flores in the torso, subjecting him to an electrical shock causing excruciating pain and rendered him unconscious,” says the claim, filed by Marysville attorney Roberto Marquez on behalf of Flores-Bravo’s surviving wife and three children.

The claim uses both versions of Flores-Bravo’s last name.

“Claimant did nothing to justify this attack,” the claim states. “The use of this force was unlawful, extreme and excessive and the officers lacked adequate training in the use of the ‘Taser’ weapon and did not follow proper police procedure in the use of the ‘Taser’ on the person of Mr. Bravo-Flores.”

Marquez’s claim states Flores-Bravo did not resist the officers, threaten or touch them in any way before they shocked him.

Sheriff’s department spokesman Lt. Damon Gil said after the incident Flores-Bravo did not drop the scissors when deputies asked, and was still combative and resisting arrest after deputies shocked him and tried to put him in a patrol car.

After the incident, deputies took Flores-Bravo, who had fallen unconscious, to Rideout Memorial Hospital in Marysville, where he died.

An autopsy report, completed in September and released in November, showed Flores-Bravo was under the influence of methamphetamine during the incident and died of a heart attack while being restrained after the chase and struggle.

Because deputies weren’t sure if the first shot had fully connected with Flores-Bravo, deputies pressed a second one against him, Gil said after Flores-Bravo died. After the autopsy report was released, Gil pointed out it did not specifically state the shot from the stun gun contributed to the man’s death.

Marquez and Gil did not return calls seeking comment Monday. In the claim, Marquez states denial would be precursor to a lawsuit.

Yuba County Counsel Angil Morris-Jones would not comment on how she’ll recommend the board respond to the claim.

CONTACT Ben van der Meer at bvandermeer@appealdemocrat.com or 749-4786. Find him on Facebook at /ADbvandermeer or on Twitter at @ADbvandermeer.