California County to Pay $7.5 Million Settlement in Death of Black Man Fatally Shot by Deputy

The county has reached a $7.5 million settlement in a civil complaint filed by the family of Kurt Andras Reinhold, a homeless Black man shot and killed in 2020 by an Orange County Sheriff’s Department deputy in San Clemente.

The family filed the wrongful-death lawsuit following Reinhold’s death on Sept. 23, 2020, when a confrontation escalated between him and two sheriff’s deputies who were with the department’s homeless outreach team after Reinhold had been stopped on suspicion of jaywalking. The shooting occurred after Reinhold reached for one of the deputy’s guns during a scuffle, according to officials with the Sheriff’s Department.

The Orange County District Attorney’s Office announced in February 2022 that it had determined the deputy was justified in the shooting, clearing him of criminal wrongdoing. Prosecutors said their investigation indicated Reinhold had not jaywalked, but had violated a vehicle code by crossing during a red hand signal, giving deputies justification for approaching him.

Read the source article at mercurynews.com