County to Pay Woman Shot by Deputies

Los Angeles County agreed Tuesday to pay $200,000 to an unarmed woman shot 10 times by sheriff’s deputies who fired 65 rounds, a case under investigation as possible “contagious fire.”

Michael Gennaco, head of the department’s Office of Independent Review, cited similarities between the shooting of Simona Wilfred and last week’s incident in Compton, where deputies fired 120 rounds in a residential neighborhood.

He said his staff was still investigating the Nov. 11, 2003, shooting, but had concerns about the deputies’ tactics. As in the Compton shooting, investigators were trying to determine if some officers fired because they heard or saw other officers fire.

“There is a whole host of potential issues, from ... the way in which police officers responded to the situation -- came up on the car shooting -- to the number of rounds fired,” Gennaco said.

While calling deputies’ actions justified, county attorneys said a jury might view Wilfred, a former Rite-Aid clerk, as an “innocent” third party and award her far more in damages than the $200,000. Wilfred suffered permanent nerve damage to her arms and left leg.

“She is likable and well-spoken, and makes a sympathetic witness,” wrote Assistant County Counsel Gary N. Miller in urging the Board of Supervisors to settle the case.

Deputies had not realized that Wilfred was a passenger when they began chasing an SUV after its driver left a home that was under surveillance by a sheriff’s narcotics team, Miller wrote.

The settlement comes amid continuing criticism of deputies who were involved in the Compton shooting, in which a deputy and an unarmed suspect were wounded and nearby homes pocked with bullet holes.

Sheriff Lee Baca said he might consider changes to his department’s pursuit policy after that shooting.

But sheriff’s officials said there were several differences between the two incidents.

Deputies in the Wilfred shooting had good reason to believe that the driver they were chasing was armed, said Sheriff’s Lt. Shaun Mathers. The driver was later convicted of trying to hit them with his vehicle, he said.

“It’s not quite the same,” said Mathers, who oversees the department’s civil litigation unit. “They knew that he possessed a firearm moments before [the chase], he failed to stop, and he assaulted them with his vehicle.”

The incident began in the early evening shortly after Wilfred’s boyfriend, Tommie Campbell, picked her up from Rite-Aid. Wilfred’s attorney said the couple stopped at the home of relatives in an unincorporated area near Monrovia.

What happened next remains in dispute.

Plainclothes deputies reported seeing Campbell load drugs and a handgun into his Ford Explorer but never saw Wilfred in the passenger seat, Mathers said. Attorneys representing the couple said sheriff’s records show that no deputy reported seeing Campbell with a handgun.

The deputies called for help and began to follow Campbell in unmarked cars. After a few miles, Campbell stopped and his pursuers pulled up behind him. The deputies said they identified themselves and ordered Campbell to turn off his engine -- an assertion disputed by Campbell and Wilfred.

Wilfred’s lawyer, Burton Jacobson, said the couple never realized that they were being chased by law enforcement officers, instead believing that the men were armed gang members. The couple fled in the SUV, Jacobson said, with Campbell honking his horn.

“If he got attention, he was hoping someone might call the police,” Jacobson said.

Deputies said Campbell backed his SUV toward them, prompting them to open fire. Several rounds struck an unmarked sheriff’s vehicle. After a brief chase, the SUV circled back and tried to strike two deputies who were on foot, Mathers said, leading them to fire more shots.

Campbell’s SUV struck an unmarked sheriff’s car and crashed into a wall. Mathers said Campbell ignored orders to lie down and appeared to reach for his belt, prompting deputies to think that he was seeking a weapon.

Deputies opened fire. Bullets struck nearby cars. Eleven hit Campbell and others struck Wilfred.

Campbell survived but suffered lung and left leg injuries and other wounds, said his attorney, Franklin S. Adler. Adler said his client never heard deputies order him to the ground.

Neither Wilfred nor Campbell were armed, but deputies discovered a handgun under the hood of the Explorer and marijuana in Wilfred’s purse, Mathers said.