Jury awards $3.5M to man hit by rubber bullet fired by LASD deputy during George Floyd protest
The jury also awarded $300,000 to the man's daughter, who attended the protest with him.
LOS ANGELES (CNS) -- A jury has awarded $3.5 million to a man who sued Los Angeles County alleging he was struck and injured by a rubber bullet fired by a sheriff's deputy during a Fairfax District protest after the murder of George Floyd in Minneapolis in 2020.
Cellin Gluck and his daughter, Caroline Gluck, were among thousands of protesters present in the area on May 30, 2020. They maintained they were trying to help another protester hit by a bean bag when Cellin Gluck was hit by the projectile. His daughter alleged she suffered emotional distress from witnessing the shooting.
On Wednesday, a Los Angeles Superior Court jury awarded Cellin Gluck $3.5 million in emotional distress damages. The same panel awarded Caroline Gluck $300,000.
In their previous court papers, county attorneys denied the Glucks' allegations and said, among other things, that the plaintiffs' damages were caused by their own wrongful acts and wilful resistance to a peace officer discharging or attempting to discharge his duties.
According to the lawsuit, the Glucks had finished protesting by early evening and stopped to buy some food. They were returning to their car when she saw another protester in distress who told them he was hit in the face with a bean bag.
Without warning, Cellin Gluck was struck in the face by a sheriff's projectile and his daughter watched "in horror" as blood flowed down his face, according to the suit, which further stated that three weeks after the injury, a surgeon removed a plastic bulb-like object which had been embedded in Cellin Gluck's nose.
The Glucks each suffered severe life-changing injuries that still affect them Thursday, the suit alleged.
