$500,000 settlement OK’d for man shot by officer

Jace Radke

Thursday, Aug. 2, 2001 | 9:11 a.m.

The North Las Vegas City Council has authorized its city attorney to offer a $500,000 settlement to a man shot by a SWAT officer last year.

In order to avoid a trial that officials estimate could result in a $1 million cost to the city, the council unanimously voted to offer the settlement to Celso Paz Lopez at its meeting Wednesday.

"In spite of being against spending one red cent on this, I'll move to approve, and hopefully this doesn't happen again," Councilman William Robinson said. "I guess we just have to cut our losses and go home."

The council voted after City Attorney Sean McGowan explained that the case was one that he felt couldn't be defended.

"We've tried to be aggressive in defense of the city's interests, and send the message that there is no easy money to be made here," McGowan said. "But there are always cases that are exceptions and this is one of them."

Lopez was shot on March 11, 2000, by then North Las Vegas Officer Dave Acosta in the 2600 block of Soledad Way. At the time of the shooting, police released a statement saying Acosta said he fired his 9 mm submachine gun after Lopez grabbed the gun.

Lopez's attorney has said his client was on the ground complying with the officer's orders when he was shot in the buttocks.

Lopez has not filed a lawsuit, but his attorney had contacted the city about settling the matter, McGowan said.

"If this case went to trial, a jury would eventually get to hear the case, and we feel they'd conclude that Officer Acosta's comments that his gun was grabbed were not credible," McGowan said.

Police said that after arriving at the house on Soledad Way following calls reporting gunshots, they heard several shots, and then three men came out of the house. One was Lopez, who according to a police release at the time refused to comply with officers.

Lopez underwent reconstructive surgery to his digestive system. According to the city attorney's recommendation to approve the settlement, the surgery was successful.

On May 12, 2000, before Chief Joey Tillmon announced whether any discipline would be imposed, Acosta resigned from the department. Police would not release any information from the use-of-force board inquiry or the internal investigation, saying they had been directed by McGowan not to comment.

A police memo from Acosta to a North Las Vegas Police sergeant, however, states that the shooting was ruled unjustified.

At Wednesday's meeting McGowan said the internal investigation and the use-of-force board findings were personnel issues and could not be released to the public.

Councilwoman Shari Buck said she was upset that Acosta's memo about the shooting was made public knowledge. The memo was obtained by a frequent council critic and distributed at Wednesday night's City Council meeting.

"I'm dismayed that confidential information has passed into the wrong hands," Buck said. "My hope is that whoever passed this information, whether a former official or current employee, is found and reprimanded."

Mayor Michael Montandon said the decision to approve the settlement offer was extremely difficult.

"There are so many other places where a half million dollars could be spent," Montandon said. "The question was whether or not we wanted to put Mr. Paz Lopez through a debate in a case that the city most likely doesn't have a leg to stand on."