The Antelope Valley Times

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Logan family files wrongful death suit against Sheriff’s Dept.

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Darrell Logan Jr.

PALMDALE – The family of a 32-year-old man shot dead by deputies in his garage last October, has filed a wrongful death and civil rights lawsuit against the County of Los Angeles.

Goldberg and Gage, the Woodland Hills law firm that represents the family of Darrell Logan Jr., filed the civil lawsuit in Los Angeles Superior Court Monday on behalf of Logan’s parents, Arzenia Ratliff and Darrell Logan Sr., and Logan’s daughter, Emani Dineh Logan.

The 92-page complaint alleges civil battery, wrongful death and civil right violations.

The lawsuit stems from a deputy-involved shooting that occurred on October 13, 2011.

According to a Sheriff’s press release issued on the day of the shooting, Palmdale Station deputies responded to Logan’s home in the 3100 block of Heather Avenue after receiving a call about gunfire coming from the residence. The report states deputies made verbal commands for the occupants to exit the garage, but the suspect refused to exit.

“When deputies entered the garage they were confronted by the armed suspect and a deputy-involved shooting occurred,” the Sheriff’s press report states. “The 32-year old male suspect [Logan] was struck and transported to a local hospital where he was subsequently pronounced dead.”

Logan’s wife, Krystle Washington, was at the house during the incident and gave her side of the story to The AV Times on Oct. 14. 2011. Read it here.

The wrongful death lawsuit alleges deputies entered private premises “without a warrant of any type” and subsequently entered the garage, which was occupied by Logan and another man.

“Deputies ordered the two men to raise their hands,” the complaint states. “Darrell and the other man complied with the officers’ verbal instructions and raised their hands… Darrell was unarmed and not in possession of any weapon. However, the officers opened fire. Darrell was shot approximately eleven times. The vast majority of the shots were in his back, including a number of fatal shots,” the complaint states.

Read the coroner’s Autopsy Report here.

The complaint also claims that “deputy gang cliques” are prevalent within the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department and membership to these gangs is “conditioned upon involvement in officer involved shootings.”

“The existence and activities of gang cliques are tolerated and ratified by the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department,” the complaint states. “Undersheriff Paul Tanaka is a tattooed member of the Vikings.”

The complaint includes a news articles from the Los Angeles Times dated April 20, 2012, which details the Sheriff’s Department’s internal probe into a secret deputy clique. The article claims the investigation was triggered by a document suggesting the clique embraced shootings as a badge of honor.

Additionally, the complaint references a federal investigation into racial discrimination by the Sheriff’s Department toward minorities in the Antelope Valley, and cites specific incidents where the Sheriff’s Department is alleged to have used excessive force against minorities in the Antelope Valley.

“Like other victims of the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department, Darrell Logan Jr. was an African-American,” the complaint states.

Logan’s family seeks unspecified damages in the civil lawsuit.

Sheriff’s spokesman, Steve Whitmore, could not be reached by The AV Times for comment Tuesday. However, Whitmore told Courthouse News that the department was “looking forward to telling the whole story.”

Read the entire wrongful death complaint here.

Read previous related stories here:

Logan, Cobian families file excessive-force claims against Sheriff’s Department

Parris: Civilian Oversight Board for deputy-involved shootings not needed

Deputies shot Palmdale man 11 times, mostly in the back, autopsy shows

Emotions run high at town hall meeting

Human Relations Commission President: Deputy-involved shooting not a hate crime

Candlelight Vigil remembers man shot, killed by deputies

Shooting victim’s wife: I want justice for my husband

Man shot dead by Palmdale deputies Thursday

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33 comments for "Logan family files wrongful death suit against Sheriff’s Dept."

  1. WOW IS ALL I CAN SAY I GROW-UP WITH DARRELL BACK WHEN WE WAS 15 R 16 I WAS AROUND AND THIS WAS NOT HIM AT ALL I KNOW I MISSED SOME YEAR’S BUT MAN HE WASN’T THIS CAME OF PERSON THAT WOULD TAKE OUT A GUN ON THE POLICE I WAS UP ALL NIGHT READING EVERYTHING FROM WHEN THIS TOOK PLACE BECAUSE AND FROM WHAT I SEE IS THAT THEY KILLED A MOTHER’S SON CAUSE HE WAS BLACK AND HAD A BACKGROUND THAT THEY DID NOT LIKE WHICH IS WAY PAST WRONG THEY SHOULD ALL PLAY FOR WHAT THEY DONE TO HIM THAT COLD BLOOD AND WHY THEY R STILL ABLE TO BE FREE IS UNFAIR TO DARRELL WHOLE FAMILY & HIS FRIENDS WOW I WAS THINKING WHY I DID NOT SEE HIM WHEN HIS CUZIN WHICH THERE ALWAYS TOGETHER WHEN WE WAS YOUNG FROM WHAT I COULD REMEMBER SO I DID SOME LOOK ON THE INTERNET AND FOUND THIS MAN……MY HEART GOSE OUT TO HIS FAMILY AND HIS WIFE AND KIDS WOW…….MAY GOD BLESS HIS SOUL….

    • I JUST DON’T GET IT HOW WOULD YOU GET ONLY HIT FROM THE BACK IF YOU HAD A GUN SHOOTING , THEN EVERY HIT SHOULD HAVE BEEN FRONT FACED SHOTS NOT ALL BACK SHOTS MAN AND THEY DONT SEE ALL THAT THERE CARZY ASS [removed]..THE BOY WAS HIT ALL FROM THE BACK AND THAT DONT PRINT A PICTURE THAT HE NEVER EVEN HAD A CHANCE TO GET DOWN TO THE GROUND R NOTHING AND WHY THE OTHER DID NOT GET HIT THEY WENT IN SHOOTING ONLY DARRELL WOW THATS CRAZY TO ME TOO…

  2. whats done in the dark comes to the light…..i know the family and they have a very strong case….lets just leave it at that the logan family needs justice.

  3. Guy lets off some rounds, that could have killed someone. Then locks himself inside the garage after police told him to exit? Your kidding right? Now some ambulance chaser is looking to make some money off of the tax payers of Los Angeles county.

    Put me on this jury! Family won’t get a penny!

    • Even better…dude let’s off NUMEROUS rounds, several neighbors call to report it, Logan’s P.O.S. “wife” lies to the cops about him even being there, cops order him out, he refuses, brandishes a gun at cops, gets shot like he deserves! I agree, I’m available for jury duty. Family shouldn’t get a damn cent! No warrant? Read the penal code morons!

      • Typical, make bad choices, do bad things, get shot by law enforcement for not complying with orders and then blame others for the life that you were living.

        • Get shot for not following orders? Never knew not following orders was worthy of a death sentence. Hey I know, let’s start killing j walkers. They don’t follow orders. I’m sure the “jump out boys” in the LA county sheriffs gang department, that elevate their sheriff gang members to a more respected level in the “jump out boys” gang didn’t give these guys more respect for a shooting.

          Just because the anti-gang sheriffs group, “the jump out boys” manifesto says they do doesn’t mean they really do. And why do the sheriff’s spokesman insist on calling this gang buried deep in the gang unit of the sheriff’s dept. cliques? Instead of what they really are? GANGS!

          • And if you j walk, you may be hit by a car and be killed. Just like if you have a gun and refuse to come out when a officer tells you too.

          • Uh…let’s see here…when the order is “drop your gun” and you don’t, yeah….you’re gonna get shot. Moron. People like sammy are the problem around in this Valley.

          • Sorry, Sammy, but your comparison doesn’t make sense. Jaywalking is not the same as brandishing a gun in front of a half dozen deputies with their guns trained on you and refusing to drop it when ordered to do so.

            Could this have been handled better? Maybe. I wasn’t there, so I can’t truly judge. But to try to say that the man was killed just because he didn’t follow the deputies’ orders is WAY oversimplifying the circumstances.

          • Uh…let’s see. The WITNESS said he didn’t have the gun in his hands to drop. And the sheriffs say the sun was in their eyes. Yeah, that report has been buried. And the sheriff gang’s manifesto says shootings give the sheriff gang member more respect. The problem is J, blindly following the badge! A wanta be gang member. Don’t you got a kid to bully somewhere? Because daddy’s gone or the kid dresses funny? LOL

          • The “witness” being his wife? If you believe her I have some swamp land in Florida you might be interested in buying. Why didn’t he come out of the house? Why did she say he wasn’t there? If he had nothing to hide then why didn’t he come out of the garage? Make dumb choices, bad things happen. He made a dumb choice.

          • Do you do any research at all? THE WITNESS WAS THE BROTHER-IN-LAW inside the garage with him. The same guy the sheriffs threw in jail for a week, (for his own protection, righttttttttt!) trying to get him to back up their story.

          • “WITNESS”, I’m sure she or he is going to say “he had a gun”. One would lie and the other would swear by it!

          • Sammy I’m thinking you have had a few run-ins with law enforcement in the past and you were innocent too.

          • You’re the guy comparing “jaywalking”, which is the proper spelling, to hiding in a garage after the police announce for everyone to come out…..let alone it was a shots fired call. If the guy had nothing to hide, then why didn’t he come out when the cops told him to? If we would have obeyed orders from law enforcement then this never would have happened. Why are you making excuses for an ex-felon that was in possession of a handgun? Oh, yet another crime. Get off the bandwagon of the “sheriff gang’s manifesto”. It’s impossible that all of the cops on scene where part of the gang squad. I am sure more than half where just beat cops answering a call of a guy that had fired off some shots! Don’t you get it? With that your going to believe a witness that didn’t come out when ordered to by law enforcement as well?

            Some people lack common sense, and you’re one of them my friend.

          • This one lists years of abuse.
            With witnesses including clergy, ACLU jail watch, medical personal, etc. etc. etc.
            What do you think J? Probably just a bunch of whiny kids who used to be bullied. And probably deserved it. Rightttttt?

            http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=la%20sheriffs%20bad%20behavior&source=web&cd=33&ved=0CC0QFjACOB4&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffile.lacounty.gov%2Fbos%2Fsupdocs%2F66397.pdf&ei=3KahT7LRJtTWiAKR15iaBw&usg=AFQjCNGwcP-kSu9RGhu34VZobvQfAwxSKQ&cad=rja

          • Keep up your blind faith Concerned. The sheriffs have been in trouble damn near EVERYDAY! Why? For beating and killing people. Hell, I haven’t even got to the deputy who blinded a women with pepper spray, (no charges filed against the woman. cop said she was a DUI. NOPE!)or the deputy (sgt. if I’m not mistaken) who was caught by a woman in Temecula burglarizing her house. I’m sure more then one of them were “just beat cops”. Don’t hold them responsible for their actions. They were probably just misunderstood bullies in school. No one understood that the other kid “deserved” it!
            I’m sure spelling police is so much more important! LOL (not sure I spelled Temecula right. Maybe you can attack that?)

          • Wow Sammy…so you googled every story of police misconduct you could find. Those cops who screwed up should be punished. You want to paint them with a broad brush, but I’m sure you whine if the cops stereotype you. Do you really believe the family’s claim that the cops researched Logans criminal record and intended to kill him? They did all this while driving fast with lights and sirens blaring? Oh yeah,,,,and only gang deputies went there…..knowing they’d get to shoot a black man or knowing it was Logan…right?Ghetto behavior can get you killed. Plain and simple.

          • Every misconduct story I could find??? Hardly. I tried to keep it to the last 12 months, and got bored, so this was just a few. My point is cops also lie. You don’t think so? Then find me just 1 story were they came forward saying as much.
            Not were a court found them wrong. Not were the public forced them to. Just ONE were a cop came close to publicly declaring something the sheriffs did was wrong. I won’t even ask that they be about shootings. The closest you’ll come to is when a newby at men’s central quit after his fellow officers had him help THEM beat a mentally ill inmate. This recruit was THE TOP of his class. And he had a conscience. The only reason we know about that one is because his uncle (LAPD) went a pulled a gun on the kids supervisor after he found out!
            Do sheriffs have a rough job? Sure!
            Do they lie? Sure!

      • Clearly you guys can’t read , if someone has a gun , hat is a threat to you they would be facing you ! , n your back wouldn’t get a single shot! You guys sound folish , my brother would have NEVER Pulled a gun out on the police , he isn’t that type of guy , he took 11 shots to the back none were in the front , explain how he was a treat to the officers ?