{"id":92609,"date":"2021-02-12T13:39:00","date_gmt":"2021-02-11T21:30:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/hispanicprwire.com\/english-family-files-wrongful-death-suit-against-lancaster-police-city-county-in-police-shooting-of-ricardo-munoz\/"},"modified":"2021-02-12T14:50:02","modified_gmt":"2021-02-12T18:50:02","slug":"familia-presenta-demanda-por-homicidio-culposo-contra-la-policia-la-ciudad-y-el-condado-de-lancaster-despues-de-que-la-policia-disparara-a-ricardo-munoz","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/hispanicprwire.com\/en\/familia-presenta-demanda-por-homicidio-culposo-contra-la-policia-la-ciudad-y-el-condado-de-lancaster-despues-de-que-la-policia-disparara-a-ricardo-munoz\/","title":{"rendered":"Family Files Wrongful Death Suit Against Lancaster Police, City, County In Police Shooting of Ricardo Mu\u00f1oz"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><\/p>\n<style type=\"text\/css\"><![CDATA[\n\/* Style Definitions *\/\nspan.prnews_span\n{\nfont-size:8pt;\nfont-family:\"Arial\";\ncolor:black;\n}\na.prnews_a\n{\ncolor:blue;\n}\nli.prnews_li\n{\nfont-size:8pt;\nfont-family:\"Arial\";\ncolor:black;\n}\np.prnews_p\n{\nfont-size:0.62em;\nfont-family:\"Arial\";\ncolor:black;\nmargin:0in;\n}\n]]><\/style>\n<div class=\"xn-content\">\n<p><span class=\"xn-location\">CHICAGO<\/span>, <span class=\"xn-chron\">Feb. 11, 2021<\/span> \/PRNewswire-HISPANIC PR WIRE\/ &#8212;\u00a0Seeking justice for her son and hoping to hold local officials accountable in order to prevent future tragedies, Miguelina Pe\u00f1a filed suit in federal court on Monday, naming the police officer who shot her son, as well as the former police chief, city and county as defendants.<\/p>\n<p>Ms. Pe\u00f1a&#8217;s son, Ricardo Mu\u00f1oz, 27, was fatally shot after his family contacted police for their help during a mental health episode last year. Mr. Mu\u00f1oz, who had been diagnosed with schizophrenia and bipolar disorder in his early 20s, was well-known to the local police department, whom his family had turned to repeatedly for help in similar situations.<\/p>\n<p>On <span class=\"xn-chron\">Sept. 13<\/span>, Mr. Mu\u00f1oz&#8217;s family had again called the crisis intervention hotline when Ricardo became agitated and was experiencing a psychotic episode. Following instructions from the crisis intervention operator, they then called the local non-emergency police number for assistance as well as 911.<\/p>\n<p>Local police dispatched Officer <span class=\"xn-person\">Karson Arnold<\/span> to the Mu\u00f1oz family residence. Within minutes of the Officer Arnold&#8217;s arrival, Ricardo Mu\u00f1oz was dead: shot multiple times by the officer in front of his home as his mother, Ms. Pe\u00f1a, watched in horror.<\/p>\n<p>Attorneys <span class=\"xn-person\">Steven Levin<\/span>, <span class=\"xn-person\">Daisy Ayllon<\/span> and <span class=\"xn-person\">Julie Murphy<\/span> from Levin &amp; Perconti in <span class=\"xn-location\">Chicago<\/span> are representing the Mu\u00f1oz family, along with attorneys <span class=\"xn-person\">Michael Perna<\/span> and <span class=\"xn-person\">Ryan Borchik<\/span> of Perna &amp; Abracht in <span class=\"xn-location\">Chester County, Pennsylvania<\/span>.<\/p>\n<p>The suit, which comes in the wake of local officials&#8217; decision not to file charges against Officer Arnold in the matter, notes that the city and county had no proper procedures in place to deal with people in mental health crises and that the officer failed to make any attempt to de-escalate the situation or use less-lethal means to bring Mr. Mu\u00f1oz to safety.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;Ricardo&#8217;s death was, at best, the predictable result of ill-advised and clumsy police work\u2014and heart-breakingly preventable. \u00a0At worst, it was the direct result of a cynical and callous disregard for the well-being of one of society&#8217;s less fortunate sons,&#8221; said attorney <span class=\"xn-person\">Michael Perna<\/span>.<\/p>\n<p>Citing the city&#8217;s deficient policies concerning officer supervision and training, attorney <span class=\"xn-person\">Daisy Ayllon<\/span> \u00a0added, &#8220;Ultimately, Ricardo&#8217;s lawsuit is about mental health reform, about police accountability when dealing with mentally-disturbed individuals who have committed no crime, and about the prevention of similar tragedies as a direct result of untrained and heavy-handed police intervention.&#8221; <\/p>\n<p>&#8220;Sometimes a community must look beyond itself for justice, and that&#8217;s what the federal courts are for. We are looking to shine a light upon the system failures in responding to this call for help,&#8221; said attorney <span class=\"xn-person\">Julie Murphy<\/span>.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>In December, U.S. Senator <span class=\"xn-person\">Bob Casey<\/span> (D-PA) introduced two bills calling for reform in how police nationwide respond to people with mental health issues and other disabilities. Casey referenced the Mu\u00f1oz case, along with two other police shootings of mentally ill men in <span class=\"xn-location\">Pennsylvania<\/span>, as he announced the legislative initiative. In <span class=\"xn-location\">Philadelphia<\/span>, days of demonstrations, including some protests that escalated into violence, had followed the October police shooting of <span class=\"xn-person\">Walter Wallace<\/span>, who, like Mu\u00f1oz, suffered from mental illness.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;To their astonishing credit, rather than venting anger while in the grip of anguish, Ricardo&#8217;s family actively discouraged violence in the immediate aftermath of his killing, which spared the city of <span class=\"xn-location\">Lancaster<\/span> yet more tragedy,&#8221; said attorney <span class=\"xn-person\">Ryan Borchik<\/span>.<\/p>\n<p>The Mu\u00f1oz family&#8217;s lawsuit seeks damages for Ricardo&#8217;s pain and suffering \u2013 including the denial of medical attention after he was shot \u2013 and his wrongful death as well as the emotional distress inflicted upon his mother as she witnessed his killing and the physical injury she suffered when, following her son&#8217;s fatal shooting, she was tackled against a police vehicle.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;Ricardo&#8217;s family first looked to a local crisis center for help with his well-documented mental health condition, but instead the police arrived and within a few short minutes had shot and killed their son and brother. Next the family looked to local law enforcement for transparency and accountability, but instead they encountered a most condescending response from the District Attorney and no transparency. Now they look to the federal court for justice,&#8221; said <span class=\"xn-person\">Steven Levin<\/span>.<\/p>\n<p>Levin &amp; Perconti is a nationally renowned law firm concentrating in all types of personal injury, medical malpractice, and wrongful death litigation. The lawyers at Levin &amp; Perconti are committed to protecting and vindicating the rights of people who are injured by the negligence of others. Please contact the firm at (312) 332-2872 or visit <a target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/c212.net\/c\/link\/?t=0&amp;l=en&amp;o=3066258-1&amp;h=2679085720&amp;u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.levinperconti.com%2F&amp;a=www.levinperconti.com\" rel=\"nofollow\">www.levinperconti.com<\/a> for more information.<\/p>\n<p><b>Contact: <\/b><br \/><span class=\"xn-person\">Debra Pickett<\/span><br \/><i>Page 2 Communications<\/i><br \/><a target=\"_blank\" href=\"mailto:deb@page2comm.com\" rel=\"nofollow\">deb@page2comm.com<\/a><br \/>773.368.7064<\/p>\n<p>SOURCE  Levin &amp; Perconti<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p> <\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<div class=\"xn-content\">\n<p><span class=\"xn-location\">CHICAGO<\/span>, <span class=\"xn-chron\">Feb. 11, 2021<\/span> \/PRNewswire-HISPANIC PR WIRE\/ &#8212;\u00a0Seeking justice for her son and hoping to hold local officials accountable in order to prevent future tragedies, Miguelina Pe\u00f1a filed suit in federal court on Monday, naming the police officer who shot her son, as well as the former police chief, city and county as defendants.<\/p>\n<p>Ms. Pe\u00f1a&#8217;s son, Ricardo Mu\u00f1oz, 27, was fatally shot after his family contacted police for their help during a mental health episode last year. Mr. Mu\u00f1oz, who&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[18],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-92609","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-general"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/hispanicprwire.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/92609","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/hispanicprwire.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/hispanicprwire.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hispanicprwire.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hispanicprwire.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=92609"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/hispanicprwire.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/92609\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/hispanicprwire.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=92609"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hispanicprwire.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=92609"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hispanicprwire.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=92609"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}