By Sarah Roebuck
Police1
LOS ANGELES — The parents of a slain Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department deputy have filed a lawsuit against the county, alleging that the sheriff’s department and other county officials knowingly endangered officers’ lives by forcing deputies to work excessive amounts of overtime, KNBC reports.
In the wrongful death claim filed Monday by Michael and Kim Clinkunbroomer, the parents of Deputy Ryan Clinkunbroomer, it states that the mandatory overtime hours, which the sheriff’s department required to sustain the minimum personnel levels, resulted in their son becoming so exhausted that he was incapable of defending himself.
Clinkunbroomer, 30, was shot as he sat in his patrol car at an intersection on Sept. 16. (Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department via AP) “Disregarding the safety of his troops, Sheriff Luna continues to force his deputies to work mind-numbing overtime, resulting in Ryan’s death and the likely death of other deputies,” the claim said.
According to the claim, Clinkunbroomer was “forced to work 100+ hours of overtime each month.”
“Deputy Ryan Clinkunbroomer (like other Palmdale deputies) was physically and chronically exhausted, suffering from fatigue each month,” it said.
The claim also seeks $20 million as compensation for the damages and losses suffered by Clinkunbroomer’s parents, The Signal reports. This filing is a preliminary move toward a possible civil lawsuit.
Clinkunbroomer, 30, was shot as he sat in his patrol car at an intersection on Sept. 16. He died at a hospital after being found unconscious in the vehicle in the city of Palmdale, according to LASD Sheriff Robert Luna.
The sheriff said Clinkunbroomer was a third-generation deputy, following his father and grandfather into the department, and had been assigned to the Palmdale station since July 2018. He was also newly engaged.