Civil Plaintiff
The California Highway Patrol Agrees to a $4 Million Settlement Over an Officer’s Slaying-Suicide
The California Highway Patrol has agreed to pay nearly $4 million to settle a lawsuit that said the agency was responsible for an officer who killed his estranged wife, wounded her lover and then killed himself in 2018.
The CHP had temporarily taken away Brad Wheat’s service handgun after he made violent threats during his crumbling marriage but later returned the weapon, which was used in the attack, attorneys said. The shooting killed Mary Wheat, 42.
The settlement agreement came several weeks before the scheduled June 7 start of the lawsuit trial, the Sacramento Bee reported.
