The family of fallen Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Deputy Ryan Clinkunbroomer plans to file suit against the county, accusing the sheriff’s department and county leaders of putting law enforcement officers at risk with excessive overtime due to severe understaffing.
Clinkunbroomer was shot in his patrol car on September 16 while stopped at a red light outside of the Palmdale Sheriff’s station. He was 30-years-old.
The deputy had collected up to 69 hours of overtime in the two weeks leading up to the shooting and had worked a double shift the day before the incident, reported attorney Brad Gage, a representative of the deputy’s parents.
“Had he not been fatigued and exhausted, he would have responded safely; he’d be here today,” said the deputy’s father, Michael Clinkunbroomer.
County officials have 45 days to respond to the claim stating the precursor to a wrongful death lawsuit naming the county sheriff’s department and Board of Supervisors before a lawsuit can be filed.
“Sheriff Luna and the Board of Supervisors knew of the dangers to their employees as a result of intentionally forcing overtime, but intentionally pursued such actions in conscious disregard of the rights and safety of deputies,” Gage wrote in the claim.
Prosecutors have charged Kevin Cataneo Salazar, 29, with one count of murder, plus special circumstance allegations of murder of a peace officer, murder committed by lying in wait, murder committed by firing from a car and personal use of a firearm.
Cataneo Salazar allegedly followed Clinkunbroomer just before 6 p.m. as he left the sheriff’s Palmdale Station, the district attorney’s office said in a September news release.
Marle Salazar, Salazar’s mother, told the Los Angeles Times her son was diagnosed as a paranoid schizophrenic about five years ago. She claimed he would say he was hearing voices in his head, and sometimes believed cars or people were following him.
“They’re only saying that he was the one that shot the deputy, but nobody is saying he has a record for needing mental help,” Salazar told the Times.
Under California’s “red flag law” — the first of such legislation to be enacted in the country – firearms can be seized from people who are considered a danger to themselves or others. Despite Cataneo Salazar’s reported schizophrenia diagnosis, it is not clear whether he would have qualified under the law or other statutes designed to keep firearms out of the hands of individuals with mental illness.