Monterey County agrees to pay $2.6 million in 'flash-bang' death of Greenfield man (wrong guy)

[TalkingDog]

http://www.montereyherald.com/crime_courts/ci_23897554/monterey-county-agrees-pay-2-6-million-flash


Monterey County has agreed to pay $2.6million to the family of a Greenfield man who died in a house fire after sheriff's deputies threw a "flash-bang" grenade through his window.

snip

Serrato's death, he said, was a "tragic, tragic event and we send our condolences to the family," he said. "We think it could have been avoided if people had heeded the directives from the officers to leave the house."

Armed with a search warrant, the sheriff's SWAT team surrounded Serrato's house in a military-style operation Jan. 5, 2011, while looking for suspects in a New Year's shooting that wounded three outside the Mucky Duck bar in downtown Monterey.

It was later determined Serrato, 31, was not involved in the shooting and was unarmed in the house. After hailing him for an hour, the family's attorneys said, deputies broke a front window and tossed in the grenade to flush him out.

The device ignited a sofa and fire quickly spread. Instead of trying to help Serrato, who was emitting "anguished cries" and breaking windows, SWAT team members retreated to the transport vehicle, pointed rifles toward the home and awaited the fire department, the suit said.