SAN DIEGO — A man shot multiple times by San Diego sheriff’s deputies is suing the county and the deputies who opened fire. Erik Talavera admits he stole a trailer, but says the deputies used excessive force while trying to arrest him on a street in El Cajon.
“I know there are people who might say I brought this on myself, but no one should be killed for taking a trailer,” Talavera said. “I was desperate and homeless and got involved in taking a trailer to try to survive.”
Talavera was shot 16 times by two deputies on February 16, 2022. Talavera had a knife on him. Deputy David Lovejoy, who investigators later determined fired 12 rounds, said he thought Talavera’s knife was a gun. Investigators say Deputy Jonathon Young fired 5 shots.
Talavera says he is grateful to be alive.
“I spent months in the hospital, some of which I don't remember at all,” he said. “I was unconscious.”
Talavera's attorney Marcus Bourassa says the deputies made several mistakes while handling this situation and that an independent review agreed.
“The citizens oversight board found that he was complying with their commands to get on the ground when they opened fire.”
One of the rounds fired hit a National City police detective at the scene. He is also suing the county and the two deputies, alleging excessive force.
Stating in his lawsuit that the deputies "were not concerned with the safety of law enforcement officers on scene or bystanders when they fired their weapons."
Talavera's attorneys believes Deputy Lovejoy shouldn't have even been with the department when their client was shot, citing an incident in 2020 when a woman says he pulled her out her car by her hair during a traffic stop. The woman said it ripped several braids out of her head. Bourassa says Lovejoy should have been fired right then and there.
“The county knew about Lovejoy's history before this incident began,” he said.
Talavera's attorneys are seeking monetary compensation for what their client has gone through and what he'll have to deal with physically and emotionally for the rest of his life. It’s an amount they believe to be in the “tens of millions of dollars."
The county declined to comment citing pending litigation.
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