A wrongful death lawsuit has been filed against the city of Los Angeles over the January death of 31-year-old Keenan Anderson after a confrontation with police in Venice.
The officers deployed a stun gun multiple times during the encounter with Anderson, who later died at a hospital.
Civil rights attorneys Carl Douglas and Ben Crump announced the lawsuit at a Monday news conference with Anderson’s relatives.
The damages suit, a precursor to a lawsuit, was filed in January but was denied, leading to the filing of a $100 million lawsuit against the city.
Part of the encounter in January was captured on LAPD body camera video. It showed Anderson asking an LAPD officer for help after a car accident in Venice.
Los Angeles police said Anderson had tried to take someone else’s car and caused the collision.
An officer spoke with Anderson for several minutes near the scene of the accident, police said. Anderson attempted to leave the scene when more officers arrived, LAPD said.
Paul Razo, 46, is accused of sexually assaulting four children, including some of his young relatives.
“When officers contacted Anderson, he began to resist, which resulted in the use of force,” LAPD said in a post that included video of the encounter. “Officers wrestled with Anderson for several minutes, using a TASER, body weight, firm grips and joint locks to overcome his resistance.”
The police used a stun gun several times during the fight. Anderson died Jan. 3 at a hospital hours after his arrest.
The Los Angeles County coroner said Anderson’s death was the result of heart failure and cocaine use. The coroner said the manner of Anderson’s death had not been determined, as pathologists said they could not determine to what extent the force used by police played a role in her death.
Anderson was a teacher at a school in Washington DC and the father of a 5-year-old boy. Anderson was in Los Angeles visiting family over the holidays.
“He deserves to hold his son too, but instead his son is left without a father due to a chance encounter with the LAPD that took Keenan’s life,” Anderson’s sister, Dominique Anderson, said. in january. “Our family (now we only have) left to pick up those pieces. Keenan was not a threat to any of those officers that day.”
NBCLA contacted the LAPD, which said the department does not comment on pending litigation.
