LOS ANGELES COUNTY : Wife of Man Killed by Deputies to Get $40,000

The county Claims Board on Monday agreed to pay $40,000 to the widow of a man deputies shot to death in May, 1992, despite a finding that the action may have been warranted.

“We believe the deputies clearly and reasonably fired their weapons,” Assistant County Counsel Robert Ambrose said in a report. “However, a number of party-goers and neighbors have testified that the deputies fired without first giving any commands or warnings.”

Laura Ponciano, the mother of four children, filed a wrongful death and violation of civil rights lawsuit against the county after her husband, Jose, was killed on May 23, 1992.

The shooting occurred during a party the Poncianos gave at their Inglewood home.

In trying to break up a fight between some of his guests and a group of party-crashers, Jose Ponciano fired two warning shots into the air, according to a county report. Deputies on patrol in nearby unincorporated Lennox heard the shots and went to investigate. They reported seeing Ponciano, with a gun in his hand, chasing another man down the street.

The deputies ordered both men to stop, according to the report, but the command was ignored. They said they shot Ponciano because they feared he was raising his gun to shoot the other man.

Ambrose said “it was in the best interest of the county of Los Angeles to settle this wrongful death, civil rights action in the amount of $40,000.”