CA Man Gets 10 Years In Prison And $27M Payout For Putting His Truck In Reverse: Report

ADELANTO, CA — A San Bernardino County man was awarded over $27 million by a federal jury after being shot repeatedly by a sheriff’s deputy while trying to back out of a driveway in 2021, the Los Angeles Times reported this week.

Steffon Todd Barber, 40, now uses a wheelchair and suffered permanent brain damage from one of the bullets, which hit him in the head when Deputy Christopher Alfred opened fire, according to the newspaper.

The incident occurred after 11 p.m. April 27, 2021, in Adelanto, where police received a call for a tenant dispute and Alfred arrived at the scene, spoke to the owners, and ordered Barber, the tenant, to show his hands while Alfred walked up a 96-foot enclosed driveway, the Times reported.

Barber, who had amphetamines in his system, instead walked to his idling SUV and reached into the driver’s seat, according to the newspaper, failing to comply with orders to show his hands and instead entering the vehicle.

Alfred saw reverse lights and opened fire, shooting six rounds, the Times reported.

Sheriff’s department spokesperson Jenny Smith told the newspaper in an email that an independent probe by the county district attorney’s office determined the shooting was justified, and Barber was convicted by a jury of assault with a deadly weapon and sentenced to over a decade in state prison.

Barber’s lawyers argued Alfred did not announce he was an officer or give a verbal warning before shooting, and noted there was a 15-foot opening in the fence that would have allowed for the deputy to move, the Times reported.

Read more from the Times.