A Tucson man is seeking $176 million in monetary damages from the Pima County Sheriff’s Department after deputies entered his home and shot him, leaving him paralyzed from the chest down.
Attorneys representing 24-year-old Axeel Melendez and his mother, Carmen Melendez, filed a notice of claim against Sheriff Chris Nanos and his department last week, informing the county they intend to sue.
A notice of claim is a statutory prerequisite for filing a lawsuit against a public entity or employee.
“Our justice system recognizes the dignity of a human life and the importance of the completeness of your body. Axeel’s health, his independence, his ability to earn a living, his sense of security, that’s all been stolen away from him,” said Dev Sethi, the lead attorney representing Melendez and his mother.
The Sheriff’s Department did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
Sethi says Axeel Melendez and his mother were the victims of a swatting incident – a criminal prank that can involve placing fake emergency calls to emergency responders at a specific location with the goal of provoking a significant response from law enforcement.
On April 10, a caller impersonating Melendez called the 311 non-emergency number for city services stating that his father had shot his sister and provided Melendez’s home address.
“This morning of the April 10 call has many red flags and hallmarks of it being a fake call, including…this call came into 311. Nobody reporting an emergency calls 311,” Sethi said.
Sethi said the caller mispronounced Melendez’s first name even though they were impersonating him.
The call also came from an out of state area code.
Less than 48 hours before that call, Sethi said his client had received a threatening message from someone who hacked his personal information while he was playing a multiplayer video game, demanding a ransom to get his passwords and accounts back.
The hacker had also threatened to call U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement to deport Melendez because he had a Hispanic name.
After being threatened, Melendez called 911 to make a report.
“He tells a 911 operator all of this and she essentially downplays it and says, ‘Don’t worry, that’s not how it works. They can’t just call 911 and have the SWAT team show up at your house,” Sethi said.
Deputies had reassured Melendez that they would notify him if another suspicious call including his address were to come in.
On April 10, responding deputies allegedly disregarded a warning from a deputy who was aware that Melendez’s home address was known as a potential swatting target.
According to the notice of claim, a deputy admitted that even though there was information the call could be an attempted swatting, she still approached the Melendez home with the mindset to “treat it like it’s real until it’s not real.”
When deputies arrived at the Melendez home, they broke in through a bedroom window which led Axeel to believe there were intruders outside. He then grabbed his family’s legally-obtained handgun, hiding behind his bedroom door. Deputies then opened fire.
Two bullets out of seven shots hit Melendez in his right thigh and left shoulder– breaking his ribs and leg and leaving him with a spinal cord injury, according to the claim.
Sethi said that after Melendez was shot and the house was cleared, deputies placed him in handcuffs while he was bleeding until first responders arrived.
“He did everything we teach our kids to do. When you’re in danger, when somebody’s threatening you, what’s the first thing we tell all of our children? Call the police,” Sethi said.
The County and Sheriff’s Department have 60 days to respond to the notice of claim that was filed on July 23.
Once those 60 days have passed or the claim is denied, the complaint will be filed in court.
“Axeel is a vulnerable young man, his life has been upended. He has real present needs and we’ve given them an opportunity to do the right thing and resolve the case, but the ball is wholly in their courts,” Sethi said.
