Updated Friday, Sept. 7, 12:28 p.m.
In a claim filed against the city of Sacramento, the family of Stephon Clark says two police officers used “excessive and unreasonable force” when they fatally shot the unarmed black man in March of this year.
The family, which is seeking $35 million in damages for Clark’s death, filed the claim with the city on Tuesday. It was made available on Friday after a California Public Records Act request by CapRadio.
The family’s claim is likely a precursor to a wrongful-death lawsuit, which could seek compensation for attorney fees, pain and suffering, funeral expenses and general damages.
The claim specifically names Clark’s two children, who are seeking $20 million from the city, and Clark’s parents and grandparents, who are pursuing “in excess of $15 million.”
In it, attorneys representing the family state that Clark “never verbally threatened anyone and he was unarmed when he was shot multiple times, including numerous shots to his back,” and that the 22-year-old “posed no imminent threat of death or serious physical injury to either the officers involved or any other person.”
CapRadio has reached out to the city and the lawyers representing the Clark family to discuss the claim.
Two officers pursued and shot Clark on the night of March 18 after a 911 call complaining about a man in a hoodie breaking car windows. The officers followed Clark into a Meadowview backyard, which they later learned was the home of his grandparents, and shot at him 20 times. They thought Clark had a gun, but investigators only found a cell phone at the scene.
Clark’s death sparked weeks of protest throughout the city. A law enforcement investigation into the officers who shot him is ongoing.
In 2017, the city of Sacramento resolved a civil lawsuit in the case of Joseph Mann for $719,000. Officers shot and killed Mann, who suffered from mental-health issues, in 2016 in north Sacramento after trying to run him over with a police vehicle.
In 2015, the city of New York paid out $5.9 million to the family of Eric Garner, whose death was ruled a homicide as an officer choked him while attempting arrest.
Read Stephon Clark's family's claim against the city of Sacramento below:
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