Settlement In San Clemente Skate Park Incident With OCSD Deputy

ORANGE COUNTY, CA — The Orange County Board of Supervisors Tuesday agreed to settle a $195,000 lawsuit filed by the son of a retired Orange County sheriff's sergeant who was involved in a conflict with a gun-wielding sheriff's deputy in a San Clemente skate park two years ago

Max Chance III filed the lawsuit in Orange County Superior Court in March, alleging negligence, assault and battery, civil rights violation and intentional infliction of emotional distress.

Deputy Michael Thalken, the Orange County Sheriff's Department and Orange County were named defendants in the suit.

The board voted 4-0 to approve the settlement. Supervisor Katrina Foley abstained from voting because her firm has accepted referrals from the attorneys who handled the suit, County Counsel Leon Page said when announcing the settlement.

"The family is pleased that this chapter in their son's life has come to an end and that some justice was served," said attorney Eric Traut, who represented the Chance family in the lawsuit.

Chance, then 16 and living with his family in San Juan Capistrano, went to a skate park in San Clemente the evening of Oct. 12, 2019, with a friend and was enjoying a band playing at the park when Thalken, who was off- duty at the time, confronted the band about the noise, according to the lawsuit.

Thalken was at a nearby Little League baseball diamond and apparently wanted the band to stop performing, according to the lawsuit, which alleged that he "appeared angry and possibly intoxicated."

According to the initial incident, the band "Stink Inc." was performing at a San Clemente skate park on Avenida La Pata that evening. Later, the off-duty officer, later identified as Thalken, was dressed in a white cap and athletic shorts when he came from the nearby baseball fields and confronted the group, saying the music was too loud.

The situation quickly escalated from there.

"He's like, 'My son can't focus while playing baseball,'" Nathan Scott told KTLA in an interview. "Everyone started laughing and making fun of him."

As Thalken confronted the teen mocking him, Chance told the youth to back up, according to the lawsuit.

Chance put up his skateboard "to defend against a potential assault" from Thalken, who had not told the group he was a deputy, according to the plaintiff.

Thalken tried to grab Chance's wrist and said, 'Get on your knees or I will shoot you in the (expletive) face, according to the suit. "He still did not identify himself as law enforcement as he brandished and pointed his handgun at (the boy's)face."

The teen "complied, while others pleaded with Deputy Thalken to stop what he was doing," according to the complaint.

Cellphone videos captured the conflict and were aired in news reports about the confrontation.

WATCH: Off-Duty Cop Confronts OC Skateboarders With Gun: Video

Thalken eventually "identified himself as law enforcement" and said, "You are coming with me to the parking lot," according to the lawsuit, which alleged that the deputy returned the weapon to his jacket pocket and argued with other witnesses.

Thalken told responding deputies that the group of kids "were the aggressors and that (Chance) had swung his skateboard at him," according to the lawsuit. "Of course, both claims were false and refuted by video evidence."

Chance's father, who had previously worked with Thalken as a rookie before the sergeant retired, called Thalken at the scene, and the defendant told him that "the kids were douche bags with a mob mentality," the lawsuit alleged.

The lawsuit states that Thalken later told Chance's father that he pulled out his gun because Chance "went at me with a skateboard. They were all crowding around me."

Orange County sheriff's deputies presented a case for criminal charges to prosecutors. Still, the District Attorney's Office declined to file a case, said Carrie Braun, a spokeswoman for the Orange County Sheriff's Department.

After an internal review, Thalken was disciplined, but according to Braun, state law prevents the release of any details from being released.

Residents of San Clemente weighed in on the incident at the time over social media. Many who commented raised the point that a person in Santa Ana was fatally struck with a skateboard in 2015.

At the time, a San Clemente Facebook group commenter said that the officer involved was "a complete coward pulling a gun at a kid. Who should be held to a higher standard? A cop or a 16-year-old?"

Read:

Off-Duty Cop Confronts OC Skateboarders With Gun: Video | San Clemente, CA Patch

City News Service, Patch Editor Ashley Ludwig contributed to this report.