The family of slain El Monte police Officer Joseph Santana has filed a wrongful death lawsuit against Los Angeles County District Attorney George Gascón, alleging his disregard for California’s “three-strikes” law enabled a convicted felon to commit the 2022 double homicide that also claimed the life of another officer.
The suit, filed Wednesday, May 3, in Los Angeles Superior Court by the officer’s wife, Sasha Santana, along with his three children and parents, also names the county Probation Department and Siesta Inn in East Los Angeles as defendants. It seeks unspecified monetary damages.
“Gascón and the probation department need to be held accountable for their failures that resulted in Joseph’s death,” Santana’s family said in a statement. “No family should ever have to endure the pain we’ve been through since the tragic passing of our loving son, father and husband.”
On June 14, 2022, Santana, 31, and El Monte police Cpl. Michael Paredes, 42, responded to a report of a stabbing at the Siesta Inn.
Santana and Paredes rescued a victim from one of the motel’s rooms before both were shot and killed, allegedly by 35-year-old Justin Flores of Whittier, a documented gang member with a lengthy criminal record. Flores died after shooting himself with Paredes’ service weapon.
‘Ill-advised policies’
Gascón’s “ill-advised policies” and a probation officer’s inaction played a major role in the deaths of Santana and Paredes, David Ring, an attorney for Santana’s family, said Thursday.
“Two young police officers were killed, in part, because Los Angeles County’s Probation Department sat on its hands and failed to yank a dangerous felon off the streets after he blatantly violated the terms of his probation,” Ring said.
Paredes’ family is expected to file a similar lawsuit this week against Gascón and the Probation Department, said the attorney, who added that both sets of plaintiffs will work together to bring about…
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