A wrongful death lawsuit was filed this week against the city of San Diego on behalf of the family of two young boys who were killed following a pursuit of a fleeing suspect by San Diego police, which prompted calls to re-examine San Diego police policies regarding vehicle pursuits.
The Dec. 8, 2023, crash on an Interstate 805 off-ramp killed brothers Malikai, 8, and Mason Orozco-Romero, 4. The boys were riding in the backseat of a sedan that was rear-ended, propelled down an embankment and into a tree, where it caught fire.
Two women in the victims' vehicle, including the boys' mother, survived the crash and are the plaintiffs in the lawsuit filed Tuesday in San Diego Superior Court.
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A city attorney's office spokesman said the office could not comment on pending litigation.
Along with the city, the complaint names the alleged driver police were pursuing — Angel Velasquez Salgado — as a defendant. Salgado, who is accused of speeding away from police while driving without a license, is facing charges that include murder for allegedly crashing into the victims' vehicle at high speed, leading to the boys' deaths.
The lawsuit alleges that the initiation of the pursuit was "unnecessary and in violation of the law and/or SDPD policies and procedures."
According to testimony from a preliminary hearing in Salgado's ongoing criminal case, officers took note of his BMW because of a faulty headlight and then because he pulled into the driveway of a residence that did not belong to the BMW's registered owner.
After he allegedly refused to pull over, the pursuit commenced, first on surface streets and then onto the freeway. Pursuing officers lost sight of Salgado's car near the 43rd Street exit, where the crash occurred.
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The lawsuit alleges that at the time, the officers did not have probable cause that a crime had been committed by Salgado, nor was there any need to immediately capture him once he allegedly fled. The lawsuit further stated the officers "had the obligation to cease pursuit when the benefits of immediate apprehension are outweighed by the hazards of continuing the pursuit."
The city's Commission on Police Practices recommended changes to the department's policies, such as avoiding initiating pursuits over minor traffic violations. The commission's recommended pursuit policy would only allow pursuits to be initiated "for extremely serious allegations involving life-or-death situations to prioritize safety and minimize risks to all parties involved."
The recommendations drew pushback from the San Diego Police Officers Association, which said limiting pursuits to certain suspects would prevent officers from pursuing DUI suspects or suspects connected to other serious crimes such as human trafficking or those in violation of domestic violence restraining orders.
"The recommendations presented by the CPP are misguided and pose significant risks to our community," the association said in a statement earlier this year.
