Family of man fatally shot by San Bernardino County deputies files $20-million claim

Tony Garza was once a star high school wrestler in Yucca Valley, but later in life, his family said, he didn't know how to grapple with his mental health issues.

Garza suffered from paranoia, according to relatives, and on Feb. 5, 2021, they tried to help Garza, calling San Bernardino County sheriff's deputies to perform a welfare check on him. Garza wound up following the deputies in his truck, looking for their license plates, according to his family's attorney.

Deputies arrested Garza on suspicion of assault with a deadly weapon after he allegedly drove toward them.

Two years to the day of the welfare check, Garza was fatally shot by San Bernardino County sheriff's deputies during a pursuit that started in Yucca Valley and ended in Palm Springs.

The family of Garza filed a $20-million wrongful-death claim Thursday against the San Bernardino County Sheriff's Department, alleging the 44-year-old was shot a dozen times by deputies while he was in the middle of a mental health crisis.

"These officers shot Mr. Garza dead as he fled through the desert," Brian Olney, one of the attorneys representing Garza's family, said Thursday at a news conference. He added that Garza was failed not just by the deputies who fatally shot him but by the courts and a broken mental health system that was repeatedly unable to get Garza the help he needed.

Garza was burning personal items on his property in Yucca Valley on Feb. 5, when deputies responded to a reported box trailer fire, according to his family's attorneys. When the deputies arrived and tried to make contact, Garza fled in his vehicle, the Sheriff's Department said.

Garza led deputies on a 35-minute chase from Highway 62 to Interstate 10, with him jumping out of his truck and fleeing on foot, near the Whitewater Cutoff, according to witness video. The video shows four deputies running after Garza along the I-10 in Palm Springs, with Garza facing the deputies several times while holding an object in his hands.

Garza took off again before falling to the ground as deputies fired at him, according to the video.

Garza's attorneys have also filed wrongful-death claims against the Riverside County Sheriff's Department and the California Highway Patrol, both of which responded to the pursuit, alleging they failed to de-escalate the situation and ignored their training when Garza was killed on the side of the freeway.

San Bernardino County sheriff's officials declined to comment, citing open litigation. The Riverside County Sheriff's Department is investigating the shooting since it happened in its county.

An independent autopsy report showed Garza was shot a dozen times, Olney said. The autopsy showed that Garza was shot twice in the back, and at least twice when he was already on the ground.

"The killing of Tony Garza was a heinous and cowardly act," Olney said. "They did everything wrong."

Family members said Garza's death has left them wrecked and looking for answers.

"I am heartbroken, devastated and a piece of my heart is now missing," said Matilde Garza, who lost her son.

The deadly incident followed what the family said was a continued and failed struggle to get Garza help for his mental health illness.

Garza's mental health began to deteriorate in 2021, according to family. Family members said they reached out to several independent and government organizations looking for assistance, including inquiring about conservatorship of Garza, but they were unsuccessful.

"His mental health continued to decline and he became more paranoid and fearful," said his sister, Silvia Garza-Littman.

Garza failed to see he was struggling, and several of the programs declined to offer assistance because he didn't seek help himself, she said.

On Feb. 5, 2021, relatives called deputies for a welfare check on Garza. He was arrested that day on suspicion of assault with a deadly weapon after he allegedly drove toward deputies, Olney said.

Garza was released, Olney said, and found to not be mentally competent to stand trial. He was ordered by a judge to be held in county jail for a week until he could be entered into a mental health facility.

But what was supposed to be a week turned into five months, with Garza being held in the county's general jail population, Olney said. Family members continued to inquire whether space had opened up at a mental health facility, and the judge in his case held follow-up hearings asking when he could be transferred.

Family members later learned Garza's name had not been put on the 800-person wait list. Instead, he remained in county jail without access to mental help.

Olney said the experience was traumatizing for Garza.

"Imagine how a healthy individual would react, and he was mentally ill," he said.

Garza was released on Jan. 24 — 12 days before he was shot by deputies — and told he needed to find mental health help within 48 hours. When Garza checked into the court-ordered offices, he was told there was a six-month wait list.

"No one would step in to help our brother," Garza-Littman said. "Instead of helping, they only made things worse."

The family is urging for changes in the mental health system. Relatives have rented billboards near Garza's home and the site where he was shot. The billboards have Garza's image and read, "My only crime was mental illness & the system killed me."

Attorneys have reached out to the U.S. Department of Justice and the California attorney general's office to investigate the shooting, saying they've received little to no information from local law enforcement about what happened.

"Our current system is broken from the top down," Garza-Littman said. "We want his name cleared."

This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.