Lawsuit Filed in Lake Arrowhead Police Related Death

A wrongful death lawsuit was filed in San Bernardino Superior Court, August 30, by Alfred and Carol Kephart in the death of their son, Allen, who was killed after an encounter with local deputies in Lake Arrowhead, Calif. The lawsuit alleges Allen Kephart's civil rights were violated after being ordered out of his car at gunpoint, thrown face first to the ground and Tasered repeatedly in the upper back, neck and head.

Although the San Bernardino County Sheriff's department maintains that the encounter began when Kephart ran a stop sign, the suit says the encounter began when Kephart honked at Deputy Ismael Diaz after Diaz pulled in front of Kephart at an intersection. According to the suit, Diaz was angered and turned on his police vehicle lights attempting to pull Kephart over.

The suit names the County of San Bernardino, the San Bernardino County Sheriff's Department, Deputy Ismael Diaz, Deputy Michael Gardea and Sergeant Bryan Lane as defendants.

A representative for the San Bernardino County Sheriff's department said that they had not received the lawsuit yet.

Reason.tv covered this story as details were just emerging and can be seen in The Killing of Allen Kephart: How the Police Lost the Trust of a Law-and-Order Town.