Fatal Sunnyvale police shooting: fourth in three years - San Jose Mercury News
SUNNYVALE -- The death of a man Saturday in a police encounter is the fifth time in eight years -- and the fourth in three years -- that someone has died at the hands of Sunnyvale Department of Public Safety officers. A companion of the dead man, whom police have not identified, remained at large after a six-hour search on Saturday. Earlier this year, on April 8, Officer Benjamin Kroutil fatally shot Joseph Jeremy Weber, 28, an Army veteran who was suspected of stealing a pack of cigarettes at knife point. He allegedly ignored the officer's orders to drop the knife. Police radio accounts indicated that Weber was 50 feet from officers, while police said he was closer. In June 2014, four officers shot and killed Glen Griggs, 53, who ignored officers' order to drop the long BB gun he was brandishing. In August 2013, a Sunnyvale SWAT team killed Michael Nehez, 68, after he wielded a knife and charged at officers. Canas's widow, Erika Canas, lost a subsequent civil suit she filed against police. Her attorney, James Roberts of San Jose, said Sunday that Sunnyvale police were negligent in shooting Canas, whom he said police mistakenly believed was a suspect in a homicide. Source: www.mercurynews.com
