‘Reckless and Unreasonable’: Judge Denies Qualified Immunity to Florida Cops Who Fired 31 Shots at Men Suspected of Stealing Pizza and Pokemon Cards
Florida sheriff’s deputies were conducting a training exercise in the parking lot of a Target when they became aware of a group of young males shoplifting from the store, specifically a slice of pizza and several Pokémon card packs totaling less than $50. Osceola County Sheriff supervisors decided to arrest the group as part of its training exercise to teach newly hired deputies to conduct a “takedown.” But two deputies ended up firing 31 rounds into the car, killing the driver, 20-year-old Jayden Baez; and wounding two others, Joseph Lowe, 19, and Michael Gomez, 18. They then body slammed the fourth suspect, a 17-year-old male named Ian Joi who did not get shot. The three men who were shot by Osceola County sheriff deputies over shoplifting less than $50 worth of merchandise are (from left) Jayden Baez, who died; Joseph Lowe and Michael Gomez, who survived the shooting. (Photo: Fox 35 Orlando) Family members of the victims filed a lawsuit against the deputies, Scott Koffinas, and Ramy Yocoub, as well as Sheriff Marco Lopez, who is now facing unrelated criminal charges for his alleged involvement in a multimillion-dollar illegal gambling operation. But the defendants tried to get the lawsuit dismissed based on qualified immunity, claiming they were in fear for their lives, which is the usual protocol for cops who kill. However, on Jan 13, a federal judge denied the deputies qualified immunity on the basis that their actions were excessive in proportion to the actual crime being committed, according to the opinion written by federal Judge Gregory A. Presnell. White Cop Shoots the Only Black Man on FBI Task Force More Than 10 Times, Confuses Him for Suspect — Then the Video Drops and Everything Collapses The severity of these crimes does not justify the magnitude of OCSD’s response—diverting an undercover, 28-deputy battalion and helicopter to conduct a simple stop on a parked vehicle containing two petit thieves. The underlying crimes in this case were not “crime involving the infliction or threatened infliction of serious physical harm.” Thus, it is clear in the first instance that employing deadly force to prevent Plaintiffs’ escape based on these crimes would not have been reasonable. Nevertheless, a series of reckless and unreasonable decisions made by OCSD deputies—led by Yacoub and Koffinas—resulted in just that occasion None of the deputies were wearing body cameras, but part of the incident was captured on surveillance video posted below. ‘Countless Civilians Were Traumatized’ The incident took place on April 27, 2022, in the parking lot of a Target in Kissimmee, Central Florida, as almost 30 deputies were conducting their training exercise, most of whom were in plainclothes and unmarked cars, though a few were wearing tactical vests with the word “sheriff” across the front and back. Baez pulled into the parking lot in an Audi sedan with his three friends, parking near the entrance to the store, allowing Gomez and Lowe to step out of the car and enter the store while Baez and Joi remained in the car. Deputies said they became suspicious because the car had a piece of white paper covering the license plate and decided to conduct a takedown as part of the training exercise. Two plainclothes deputies entered the store, following the young men and spotting them stealing, according to court records. Meanwhile, more than two dozen deputies positioned themselves in various locations throughout the parking lot, including the exits, to prevent them from leaving. A sheriff's helicopter was even called to the scene to participate in the shoplifting arrest. Deputies observed the car moving from the front of the store and into a parking space as both Gomez and Lowe stepped out of the store and into the car with the stolen slice of pizza and Pokémon cards. That was when unmarked cars with no lights or sirens sped towards the Audi, with one deputy ramming the driver's side with his pickup truck, followed by other deputies ramming the other sides of the car without identifying themselves as deputies. Baez tried to maneuver through the cars to escape, but Deputy Koffinas began firing through the rear windshield of the car while Deputy Yacoub stepped out of an unmarked pickup truck and began firing through the front windshield. Eleven witnesses called 911 to report the shooting, evidently not believing the shooters were law enforcement. This is how the judge’s opinion describes the aftermath of the shooting: At its end: no members of the OCSD were injured; at least five vehicles were badly damaged, including the Audi and four OCSD undercover vehicles; Yacoub had fired seventeen rounds into the passenger window; Koffinas had fired fourteen rounds into the rear window; Baez was shot dead; Gomez was shot three times in the back and ribs; Lowe suffered gunshot wounds to both hands resulting in permanent disfigurement; Joi was slammed to the ground and detained for hours; countless civilians were traumatized; and a pizza and a handful of Pokémon cards were recovered. ‘Recklessly Employed Deadly Force’ Sheriff Lopez defended the deputies’ actions to the media in the aftermath of the shooting by saying, “That’s how we do it here.” “We do things a bit different here in Osceola County,” the sheriff bragged to the media following the shooting. But Sheriff Lopez would be arrested three years later on racketeering and conspiracy charges, accused of owning and operating an illegal casino with slot machines. He was suspended by Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis and is expected to go to trial this year. A month before the sheriff’s arrest, deputies Koffinas and Yacoub filed a motion for summary judgment claiming they only opened fire because they were in fear for their lives, asking the case to be dismissed through qualified immunity, the legal doctrine that protects cops from liability unless it can be proven they violated a “clearly established” right. But Judge Presnell denied the request on the basis that not only did the shoplifting suspects never make any threats towards the deputies, but their crime also did not warrant such an aggressive reaction. “Yacoub and Koffinas’ choice to inject deadly force into the completely avoidable chaos they created to stop a couple of petit thieves does not warrant the protection of qualified immunity,” the judge wrote in his opinion. “The Deputies’ most significant failure that day—and the key distinguishing fact in this case—was that none of these deputies, including Yacoub (who led the block) and Koffinas, activated their emergency lights or sirens, despite knowing that they were all in undercover vehicles wearing undercover clothing.” “No reasonable officer would have initiated the Takedown without any notice or warning that they were law enforcement. And, more importantly, under these circumstances no reasonable officer would have so recklessly employed deadly force (as Yacoub and Koffinas did) to prevent the escape of two petit thieves.”
