Attorney: $25 million shooting lawsuit against city of Pasco to be withdrawn

An attorney representing the widow of Antonio Zambrano-Montes and other family members is withdrawing a $25 million claim filed shortly after the shooting.

Tacoma lawyer Charles Herrmann said in an email that the claim — originally filed by Yakima attorney George Paul Trejo Jr. — was premature, badly planned and done without the consent of Teresa de Jesus Meraz Ruiz.

Meraz Ruiz was married to Zambrano-Montes and the couple had two girls together. Herrmann is also representing the girls, ages 12 and 15, as well as Zambrano-Montes’ parents and two younger siblings.

Trejo vehemently denied Sunday that the claim was filed without the permission of Meraz Ruiz or the Zambrano family. He called Herrmann’s allegation a “flat-out lie.”

Herrmann recently took over the case from Trejo. He sent a separate email Sunday to the Pasco city clerk saying he wants to withdraw the claim.

The multimillion-dollar claim was first filed with the city Feb. 13, just three days after Zambrano-Montes was shot by police after he threw at least one rock and tried to run away. The orchard worker was not carrying a gun or knife, though it appears in videos he had an object in his hand during the confrontation.

The Herrmann Scholbe firm plans to investigate the shooting and the Pasco police department for “viciously gunning down an unarmed man,” Herrmann wrote in the email. They will examine the department’s policies regarding dealing with people who are mentally ill or don’t speak English, as well as whether there is a history of mistreatment and abuse within the department.

Herrmann, in the email to the city, called the shooting an assassination.

“No matter how desperate the effort to excuse this killing, Antonio (Zambrano-Montes) posed no threat of grievous harm to these policemen at the moment they took his life,” he wrote. “The mere fact that he may have thrown rocks before, or even if he possibly had a small pebble hidden in his hand, it cannot possibly justify police resorting to deadly force.”

Trejo — who is upset Herrmann never told him he was taking over the case — filed the claim because he expected the city to deny it and wanted the litigation process to start, he said. The $25 million amount was agreed upon so each of Zambrano-Montes’ daughters could potentially receive $10 million and Meraz Ruiz could get $5 million.

Family members were aware the claim was going to be filed and were in favor of the dollar amount, he said.

Trejo’s claim alleged Pasco police officers Ryan Flanagan, Adam Wright and Adrian Alaniz used excessive force and were unjustified in opening fire. It also stated that officers were inadequately trained and supervised.

The shooting of Zambrano-Montes on Feb. 10 at the crowded intersection of 10th and Lewis has divided Pasco and led to weeks of protests. The Tri-City Special investigations Unit, a 15-member team of local law enforcement, is looking into the shooting. No Pasco officers will take part in the investigation.

Herrmann told the Herald on Sunday that he is in support of a federal agency taking over the investigation.

“I’m not impugning anybody’s integrity, but I think the natural bias of these policemen to protect their brother officers is inescapable,” he said.

The shooting has been denounced by Hispanic community leaders, the president of Mexico and many others across the nation. There have been calls for the officers to be criminally charged.

The incident was the fourth fatal shooting involving a police officer in Pasco since June. Pasco officers killed three men and a SWAT member shot the fourth. All have been cleared of any wrongdoing.

Herrmann’s expects an investigation to reveal the three officers were not justified when they opened fire.

“When all the evidence is weighed and measured, the truth will (come) out. These police are culpable and the city of Pasco is responsible,” Herrmann wrote. “All our focus will then shift to deciding the real issues involved — punishment for the culprits and just compensation for the victim's family. Justice demands no less.”

This story was originally published February 22, 2015 at 4:16 PM with the headline "Attorney: $25 million shooting lawsuit against city of Pasco to be withdrawn."