Friend of Man Slain on Bus Files Rights Suit
The companion of a man shot to death by a deranged woman aboard an RTD bus last month filed a federal civil rights lawsuit Monday against the two law enforcement agencies involved in the incident.
Karim Rami, 26, claims that he was unreasonably searched, handcuffed and detained by Beverly Hills police during an hourslong standoff between the woman with the gun, identified as Esther Rogers, and a Los Angeles County sheriff’s SWAT team.
The U.S. District Court lawsuit, filed by Stephen Yagman, identifies Rami as a friend of Bernard Calonne, the man shot to death by Rogers. The woman died in a hail of deputies’ bullets at the end of the siege in the early hours of May 15. Named as defendants are Sheriff Sherman Block, the county of Los Angeles, 100 unnamed sheriff’s deputies, Beverly Hills Police Chief Marvin Iannone and 100 unnamed Beverly Hills officers.
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