LA MESA (CNS) - A woman who alleges she was shot in the face with a beanbag projectile by La Mesa police during last year's contentious protest at police headquarters is suing the city.
Delane Hurley, 51, alleges she was walking through downtown La Mesa on May 30 when she stopped to watch the rally unfolding between protesters and law enforcement, according to the complaint filed Thursday in San Diego Superior Court.
The suit states that police deployed chemical agents during the rally, sending "numerous running people and clouds of chemical agents" in her direction.
Hurley says she was trying to escort an elderly woman from the area when she was struck in the right cheekbone by the projectile. Bystanders helped move her from the area and she was later taken to a hospital for treatment of her injuries, which included "damage to her cheekbone and surrounding nerves and tissue, as well as nerve damage, numbness and heightened facial sensitivity to her cheek and face."
She also alleges an old injury to her left arm and shoulder was re-aggravated when she fell after being struck in the face by the projectile.
"Ms. Hurley was doing nothing wrong, was not part of the rally, and yet she was shot in the face by a police officer who apparently was firing a dangerous weapon into a crowd of people in an area where many innocent bystanders were located," the lawsuit states.
The lawsuit follows another the city is facing from a woman who was shot in the head with a beanbag projectile in the police department parking lot during the protest.
Leslie Furcron filed suit last month against the city and the officer who fired the projectile, Detective Eric Knudson. Furcron was struck in the forehead by the beanbag and alleged in her suit that she continues to suffer from a loss of vision in one eye and neurological issues.
The San Diego County District Attorney's Office cleared Knudson of potential criminal liability earlier this month, stating he believed Furcron was throwing a rock at San Diego County sheriff's deputies who had formed a skirmish line across the parking lot, though the object turned out to be an aluminum can. Furcron alleged in her suit that she threw the can at the ground and nowhere near any officers.
