Sheriff Chris Nanos, the embattled lawman leading the Nancy Guthrie investigation, has a new $176 million problem.
Axeel Melendez, 24, is suing Nanos and the Pima County, Arizona, sheriff’s department after deputies shot and paralyzed him while responding to a phony “swatting” call — the second major lawsuit against the department in two weeks.
Axeel Melendez, 24, twice in his home in April, leaving him paralyzed from the neck down, according to a notice filed on July 27.
The shooting happened even though Melendez warned the sheriff’s department that he was being targeted for swatting — and even though he posed no threat at the time, his lawyer said.
Someone impersonating Melendez called the sheriff’s department at around 6 a.m., stating that his father had shot his sister. Deputies then smashed his bedroom window with a shovel and climbed inside, guns drawn, according to the docs.
Melendez heard a commotion outside, woke his mom up and told her to hide, then cowered behind a door with the family’s legally-registered firearm. Officers fired seven shots through the door, hitting him in the leg and spine, the legal notice said.
Melendez was already on edge before the raid: He had been menaced by an online hacker who threatened to call in a bogus bomb threat at his house, said his attorney Dev Sethi.
Melendez called 911, but the operator allegedly told him not to worry.
“The dispatcher told Melendez, ‘They can’t just call SWAT on you. That’s not how it works.’ And assured him that … ‘nothing’s going to happen,’” Sethi said in a statement.
The sheriff’s department then received a suspicious call to Melendez’s house, which they determined to be fake. Officers alerted Melendez and assured him that “he should be alright,” promising to warn him if they received any more calls to the address, according to an incident report obtained by his lawyer.
Less than 48 hours later, another swatting call came in — and that one ended with deputies opening fire and paralyzing Melendez.
Sheriff Nanos is already facing another multi-million-dollar lawsuit over his allegedly botched investigation into the disappearance of 84-year-old Nancy Guthrie.
Carlos Palazuelos and two family members plan to sue the Department for $3 million after deputies arrested him and raided his house in the days after the mother of “Today” show host Savannah Guthrie vanished in February.
A notice of claim says deputies drew their guns on Palazuelos, took him into custody and kept him for seven to eight hours before releasing him without charges in the town of Rio Rico, about an hour south of Tucson.
Palazuelos is seeking $2.5 million, while relatives Daniel Maddox and Josefina Maddox are seeking $500,000 and $250,000, respectively, after deputies executed a search warrant to their home, held them for questioning, and allegedly damaged their property.
Palazuelos also targets Nanos for allegedly refusing to clear his name after the sheriff described him as a “person of interest” to reporters last week.
The Pima County Sheriff’s department declined to comment, stating that they do not discuss pending litigation.
As for Melendez: “Axeel is a shooting victim whose life will never be the same … He’s not just looking at years of medical treatment and a mountain of hospital bills; his life has been shattered,” Sethi said.
Read the full article here
