Family Of Slain 19-Year-Old Sues Over CHP Shooting
FULLERTON (AP) — The family of an unarmed 19-year-old shot by California Highway Patrol officers says the shooting was unjustified.
The Los Angeles Times says a claim filed Tuesday contends that Pedro Villanueva wasn't an immediate threat.
Villanueva was shot on July 3 by undercover CHP officers investigating illegal street racing in Santa Fe Springs, a Los Angeles suburb.
After a five-mile chase, they followed a pickup truck into a dead-end street in Fullerton. Officers said they fired when the truck turned around and drove toward them.
An attorney says Villanueva and a man who was wounded didn't know the unmarked car was a CHP vehicle and feared for their lives.
The Times says the CHP deferred comment to the Fullerton Police Department, which declined to comment.
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