Three SDPD Officers and City of San Diego to defend shooting of 19-year-old female during routine traffic stop in Federal Court

A 20-year-old woman caught in a crossfire of bullets from three San Diego Police officers after a brief car chase in Encanto, has taken the lawsuit she filed against the officers and City to Federal Court.

On September 23, attorneys for Silvia Fletes gave notice they were moving the case.

The incident occurred on January 15 of this year. That night, Fletes was riding in the passenger seat of Jonathan Vasquez's car. An officer spotted the car and attempted to pull it over for speeding. According to the officer, the 21-year old driver refused to pull over, prompting two other officers joined in the pursuit.

That pursuit ended in a dirt lot in Southeastern San Diego. It was then that Officers Rogelio Medina, Nicholas Troncale, and Sergio Gallegos claim instead of exiting the vehicle, Vasquez began driving his car towards them. The officers opened fire, killing Vasquez and injuring Fletes in the process.

Fletes, however, remembers the incident differently, claiming the officers were too quick on the draw, especially considering there were innocent bystanders in the car.

"At the time of and prior to the Defendant Officers' use of deadly force, (Fletes) had not engaged in any activity that would give any reasonable officer any reasonable cause to shoot her. Each Defendant present recklessly, wantonly and in conscious disregard for (Fletes) failed to follow the policies and procedures of the City, and the Constitutions of the State of California and the United States. No reasonable officer would have believed based on the facts presented that Plaintiff had engaged in any activity or was about to engage in any activity that would have permitted Defendant Officers to use any force upon Plaintiff."

Click here to read the lawsuit.