A federal jury on Wednesday, May 13, awarded $3.62 million to a man who was armed with a gun when police officers shot him at the end of a pursuit from Hemet to Beaumont in 2024.
The jury in U.S. District Court in Riverside said George Gonzalez, 32, should receive $2.75 million for future pain and suffering and emotional distress, $750,000 for past pain and suffering and emotional distress and $120,000 for future economic loss, court documents show.
The defendants in the four-day trial were the California Highway Patrol and patrolman Sean Irick.
Gonzalez previously settled out of court with the city of Hemet, whose officers also fired on Gonzalez. The amount of the settlement was not available on Thursday. The state chose to take the case to trial.
Gonzalez still faces surgeries to fix digestive problems caused by the shooting, civil rights attorney Dale K. Galipo said in an interview Thursday.
“He’s very grateful for the verdict,” Galipo said. “I’m very thankful to the jurors for having the courage to do the right thing, and that’s holding the officer accountable for the use of unreasonable and excessive force.”
Jurors agreed on four of the plaintiff’s claims: that Irick used excessive force, unreasonable force, violated the Bane Act — a state law that safeguards civil rights — and was negligent. Jurors said Irick was 55% responsible for the negligent conduct that caused Gonzalez’s injuries, and that Gonzalez was 45% responsible, according to court documents.
Had jurors found that Irick had been culpable on only the negligence claim, the award would have been reduced by 45%, Galipo explained.
According to Galipo, the lawsuit and a news release issued at the time by the Riverside County Sheriff’s Department, members of a gang task force were called to the area of Whittier Avenue and Girard Street in Hemet around 7:15 p.m. on Jan. 24, 2024. Someone reported that Gonzalez, a felon, was violating a restraining order by refusing to allow his girlfriend to enter her sister’s house. Gonzalez reportedly was armed.
When officers contacted Gonzalez as he sat in his car, he drove off at speeds up to 100 mph. When his car became disabled on railroad tracks in the 500 block of B Street in Beaumont, Gonzalez ran toward the loading docks at the Perricone Farms juice factory. Gonzalez, with his back to the officers, pulled a gun out of his waistband and raised it above his right shoulder while looking at the officers over his left. He then lowered the gun and, as he walked away, the officers fired.
Gonzalez dropped the gun after about five shots, Galipo said, but officers continued to fire as he fell.
Irick and Patrick Sobaszek each fired 10 shots, and Andrew Reynoso six shots, Galipo said. Gonzalez was hit three times, the attorney said.
“Our argument was that there was not an immediate threat of death when they started firing, and certainly not when he was on the ground,” Galipo said.
Judge Kenly Kiya Kato granted Galipo’s motion to prohibit the state from arguing that officers could legally shoot a fleeing suspect even if he did not pose an immediate threat, Galipo said.