click to enlarge Helicopter footage of the moments before the police killed Henry Rivera. Phoenix Police Department The family of Henry Rivera, a man who was shot and killed by Phoenix Police in 2019 while fleeing from them unarmed, is now suing the City of Phoenix. The lawsuit was filed last week in the Maricopa County Superior Court on behalf of four of Rivera’s children. It names the two officers who shot Rivera and the city of Phoenix as defendants, and accuse them of wrongful death. Rivera was killed in a manhunt after being surrounded by officers from a Phoenix special tactical unit. But Rivera wasn’t the suspect they were looking for – and as the lawsuit emphasizes, there was little reason for officials to believe it was him. Related Stories I Support Local Community Journalism Support the independent voice of Phoenix and help keep the future of the New Times clear. Rivera’s case caused an outcry at the time. But according to the new lawsuit, the two officers who shot him – Kyle Fricke and Andrew Carlsson – were never disciplined over the incident. The Maricopa County Attorney’s Office also declined to bring charges against her. Fricke had been involved in two other fatal shootings off Rivera, the Arizona Republic later reported. The lawsuit underscores the role of Phoenix’s “deadly” tactical units in Rivera’s death: the city’s special unit, the Rivera family lawyers argue, has a pattern of “using high levels of violence without taking precautions against the innocent.” the lawyers wrote that the officers’ actions “shock the conscience”. The incident began with a Phoenix Police search for Eddison Noyola, a man accused of shooting three people and kidnapping his girlfriend. On March 12, 2019, Noyola’s name and face were blown up in local media along with photos of his girlfriend Andrea Dixon. “Noyola and Dixon,” a warning said, “have large, visible tattoos on their faces.” Noyola was later arrested. He pleaded guilty to second degree murder. But first the Phoenix police would hunt down Rivera, another young Hispanic man they mistook him for. Rivera and his fiancée Natalie Mejia were staying at the Lamplighter Motel in Phoenix in March with Mejia’s young children. A false tip about Noyola led police to her motel room, where Rivera “overwhelmed with fear” locked herself in the bathroom while officers spoke to Mejia. Natalie looked for Noyola or asked her if she was with Noyola. Nor did they notice that Mejia didn’t look like Dixon, the kidnapped friend they were trying to find – she had no tattoos on her face. Rivera fled the bathroom window to an auto repair shop and got into a car with a key in the ignition to escape – he had active warrants for credit card theft and burglary, his family told ABC 15.Helicopter video that Phoenix police later released shows the incident What Happened Next: Rivera’s car was surrounded by several police vehicles. The police shot at the car. When Rivera got out of the vehicle to flee on foot, Fricke and Carlsson shot him twice as he ran away. While Rivera was fatally injured on the ground, Fricke sent his police dog to attack him. “Defendants were not aware of any information that would lead a reasonable official to believe that Henry was indeed Eddison Jesus Noyola,” the lawsuit states, and Rivera “did nothing to threaten an official”; he had no weapons and fled on foot. A Phoenix city spokesman said the city would not address any pending litigation. Lawyers representing the family did not respond to New Times inquiries. Rivera’s case isn’t the only recent case in which Phoenix officers accidentally approach someone. Last year, 19-year-old Dion Humphrey was hospitalized for weeks after police – including SWAT officers – mistook him for a robbery suspect and attacked him. However, as in Rivera’s case, the city has not yet assumed responsibility for this incident.
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