The city of Torrance denied an excessive force complaint filed by a man who was shot at by that city's police agency in a case of mistaken identity during a frenzied manhunt for an ex-LAPD officer on a deadly rampage.
David Perdue was on his way to the beach for an early-morning surf session on Feb. 7 before work when Torrance police officers fired at his Honda truck without any warning, according to court documents filed in federal court in Los Angeles in June.
"The city of Torrance continues to insult us," said Perdue's attorney Robert Sheahen in a press conference held Monday afternoon.
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Torrance police would not comment, citing the ongoing lawsuit.
Police fired at least three bullets at Perdue’s truck before ordering him out and detaining him for an hour that morning. Even though bullets went through his windshield, Perdue was not hit.
He was shot at even after being cleared by other officers after they were satisfied he was not the man they were looking for, court documents said.
Police encountered Perdue while searching for ex-LAPD Officer Christopher Dorner, wanted in a revenge-fueled killing spree from Feb. 3–12 that left four people dead, including two police officers, and wounded three other police officers.
Dorner fatally shot himself while hiding out in a Big Bear cabin.
Perdue, 38, who is white, and under 6-feet tall, was mistaken for Dorner, a black man, who stood 6 foot 2.
On the day Perdue was shot at, officers were in the Torrance neighborhood on protection duty for another officer Dorner threatened in an online manifesto.
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The Perdue shooting was the second case of mistaken identity that morning.
Police shot and wounded two women who were in a blue pickup truck delivering newspapers. The city of Los Angeles was ordered to pay the women a $4.2 million settlement in that case.
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