Family of Man Shot by Police on 101 Freeway After Chase File $120 Million Lawsuit

The family of a 19-year old Winnetka man who was fatally shot by police following a late-night chase through the western San Fernando Valley will announce today the filing of a federal lawsuit against the city and Los Angeles Police Department.

Abdul Arian was shot scores of times by Los Angeles police around 10 p.m. April 11 after he led officers on a high-speed chase that ended on the Ventura (101) Freeway near Woodland Hills. According to the LAPD, Arian called 911 during the pursuit, which began after he ran a red light, and told a dispatcher he was armed and prepared to shoot officers. Arian was later buried at in North Hollywood. After the funeral, , an attorney for Arian's family called the shooting "one of the most tragic things that has happened in Los Angeles County of this magnitude in years."

The city rejected a $120 million claim filed by the family, opening the door for a lawsuit, according to attorneys for the family.

The family has lashed out at police, saying officers displayed massively excessive force, firing more than 100 rounds at Arian after he got out of his car on the freeway and ran.

Although Arian was not armed and was carrying only a cell phone, video shot by news crews showed him getting out of his car at the end of the pursuit and taking a shooting-type stance toward pursuing officers just before they opened fire.

"I have a gun," Arian had told a 911 dispatcher during the pursuit, according to police. "I've been arrested before for possession of destructive devices, I'm not afraid of the cops. ... If they pull their guns, I'm gonna have to pull my gun out on them."

The family's attorney, Jeffrey M. Galen, said officers could have used non-lethal force to subdue Arian, who was later found to have neither alcohol nor drugs in his system.

"If the officers were in such fear of their life which they claim, appropriate protocol and policy would be to take cover," Galen said. "It doesn't make sense that they would risk their own lives by aggressively charging a suspect."

Tyler Izen, president of the Los Angeles Police Protective League, the union representing LAPD officers, said the shooting was regrettable, but Arian triggered it.

"It is unfortunate that our society has come to the place where a lawful command from an officer goes ignored. Oftentimes, this sets into motion a regrettable series of events, as in this case," Izen said.

"When a person decides to engage officers in a pursuit, refuses police orders to end the threat they are posing to the safety of officers and the public, tells the police that they have a gun, exits a vehicle and takes an aggressive shooting stance, extends their arms out and points an unknown object at the officers, they are subjecting themselves to the consequences of their actions, which may include being shot."

Arian, an immigrant from Afghanistan, had been enrolled in the LAPD's Explorer Academy, which teaches teens about careers in law enforcement, but he was removed for "disciplinary reasons" in October 2009, according to the LAPD.