By Pat Andrews
BEACON STAFF WRITER

posted Feb 3, 2012 - 6:43:42am

A Longwood attorney is making a federal case out of the Jan. 22 shooting by police in South DeLand — literally.

Attorney Scott M. Miller told The Beacon Jan. 30 he is preparing paperwork to file a lawsuit in federal court against DeLand Police Officer Bobby Harrelson, other officers involved in the incident on West Carroll Avenue, and the DeLand Police Department.

The suit will cite Section 1983 of the U.S. Federal Code, which allows civil action for deprivation of civil rights.

The DeLand Police maintain that the two men shot were warned — in English and Spanish — to move away from a pellet gun, which officers thought was a bullet rifle, but instead, the men aimed the weapon at police. Harrelson opened fire in response, police said, fearing that he, his fellow officers, and residents of the Havenwood Mobile Home park were in immediate danger.

Miller, however, said that when Harrelson shot and wounded Javier Perez and Leobigildo Espinoza, “the guys were sitting on chairs” in Perez’s backyard.

Neither one had the air rifle in his hand, Miller said — the pellet gun was about 20 feet away.

Miller said the suit, which he expects to file Feb. 3, will seek damages in excess of $75,000.

Miller said witnesses interviewed by his law firm reported that the police opened fire, shooting multiple rounds. There was a pause; then more multiple rounds were fired. Then, Miller said, the police officers announced themselves.

The lawyer described the shooting as “totally unprovoked.”

After the incident, the police report states, Perez told detectives he, Espinoza and another man had been shooting a pellet gun at an orange they had placed on top of a barrel. They had been drinking beer, Espinoza told police.

Perez told detectives he did not recall who held the pellet gun last, and that to his recollection, nobody was holding the pellet gun when officers arrived on the scene in response to a 911 call from a distraught woman who said men with a shotgun were trying to kill her. The caller was identified by the dispatcher as possibly being mentally unsound.

Miller is also representing Angeline Cassese, who lives next door to Perez. Cassese earlier said her 2-month-old daughter, Caitlyn Lindner, was injured slightly when flying debris caused by a bullet struck the toddler’s foot. DeLand Police Chief Bill Ridgway said whether the abrasion between the toddler’s toes is related to the shooting has not been determined.

Cassese’s dog was wounded in the leg by a bullet.

Medical bills for Espinoza, who was still hospitalized Jan. 30, have already reached the $75,000 mark, Miller said, and Espinoza will need more surgery to remove another of the three bullets that struck him. Espinoza was hit in his right hand, his left jaw and neck area, and his left shoulder.

Perez was released from the hospital the day after the shooting, with a gunshot wound to his bicep.

Harrelson has been placed on paid administrative leave, and the Florida Department of Law Enforcement is investigating the shooting. Both are standard procedure in cases where an officer shoots a suspect.

City Attorney Darren Elkind said he will not handle the lawsuit. The company that insures the Police Department will defend the suit, and will use its lawyers, he said.

— pat@beacononlinenews.com

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