Teen shot by 2 police officers contends in federal suit that he was ambushed

A teen left a paraplegic in a law enforcement shooting last year contends that he was ambushed.

But records show that officers involved in the shooting in Woodlake were cornering 18-year-old Adonis Serna because he was driving a stolen minivan.

Serna, who is scheduled to go on criminal trial in Tulare County Superior Court in September, has filed a federal civil rights lawsuit that puts a spotlight on how local law enforcement dealt with an unarmed man who was on his way to visit his 10-month-old son.

In U.S. District Court in Fresno, Serna has accused sheriff's detective Bari Molyneux, Exeter police detective Kevin Phelps and Woodlake police detective Oscar Robles of excessive force, assault and battery and negligence.

After the shooting, Serna was in a coma for six weeks and hospitalized for months, said Visalia attorney Douglas Hurt, who represents Serna.

The shooting happened during the afternoon of April 26, 2017, near Woodlake High School, a continuation school and a preschool. The sound of gunfire prompted children to duck for cover, Hurt said.

At the time of the shooting, Woodlake Police Chief Mike Marquez said the officers feared for their lives when they shot Serna, who was in a stolen minivan that had backed up into a police vehicle.

The lawsuit, however, says Serna borrowed the minivan from a friend and didn't know it was stolen. Serna also didn't know Molyneux, Phelps and Robles were law enforcement officers because they were in plain clothes and in unmarked police vehicles, Hurt said.

"The officers' behavior, at best, was reckless," Hurt said. "They intended to kill my client."

After the shooting, the officers were not disciplined, Hurt said. Instead, the Tulare County District Attorney's Office filed criminal charges against Serna for assault on a police officer with a deadly weapon, auto theft and resisting arrest.

"It's outrageous," Hurt said of the filing of criminal charges. "I find it immoral. It adds insult to injury." Hurt alleged that the criminal charges are an attempt by prosecutors to cover up the officers' reckless behavior.

Stuart Anderson, a spokesman for the Tulare County District Attorney's Office, said it would be unethical to comment about the Serna case since his criminal trial is pending.

The civil rights lawsuit gives Serna's and Hurt's account of what happened. He said much of the information comes from police reports and testimony from Serna's preliminary hearing in March, when the three officers testified against Serna.

Police had the opportunity to videotape the encounter, Hurt said, but Phelps didn't turn on his body camera. Robles and Molyneux didn't have body cameras.

The lawsuit says:

Serna borrowed the minivan so he could visit his 10-month-old son, who lived with his mother near Woodlake High. Before he visited his son, he dropped by his father's apartment to eat lunch.

Unbeknownst to Serna, Molyneux was doing surveillance at the apartment complex in connection with an unrelated case. While Serna was in his father's apartment, Molyneux ran the minivan's license plates and learned it had been reported stolen.

When Serna left his father's apartment, Molyneux followed in an unmarked white pickup and called for backup. Robles and Phelps soon followed Molyneux in an unmarked black sports utility vehicle.

Around 3 p.m., Serna drove onto Sequoia Street. Hurt said it was the end of the school day when teachers were saying goodbye to their students and parents were picking up their children.

Prior to the officers initiating a traffic stop, Serna, on his own, pulled over and stopped. "He had seen a young man, an acquaintance, walking on the sidewalk and pulled over to talk to him," the lawsuit says. "Serna was not aware that the unmarked pickup truck directly behind his vehicle was a law enforcement vehicle."

Serna also was unaware that a black SUV with Phelps and Robles was following him. "Neither police vehicle turned their flashing lights or sirens on to identify themselves," the lawsuit says. Hurt says in the lawsuit that Robles contends he turned on his grill-level flashing lights. If so, the lights were below the minivan's windows, so Serna could not see them, Hurt says.

While Serna talked to his friend, the lawsuit says, Molyneux pulled around the minivan to block it from moving forward. Robles pulled to within 6-8 feet behind the minivan. "At that point, all three officers exited their vehicles and drew their guns," the lawsuit says.

Hurt said Molyneux, Phelps and Robles did not identify themselves as police officers as Serna slowly backed his minivan away from Molyneux's pickup. "At no time did Serna know that the SUV was behind him nor that it was an unmarked police vehicle," the lawsuit says. Serna was also unaware that Robles and Phelps were off to the side of the SUV behind him.

When Serna's minivan bumped the SUV bumper, Robles and Phelps started shooting, the lawsuit says. Hurt said Robles fired six rounds; Phelps fired one. Bullets pierced the van and struck Serna in the back, he said.

Hurt said Serna had no intentions of hurting the officers or resisting arrest. He also said the officers were never in danger from behing hit by the minivan because they were off to the side. "My client was scared. He thought some knuckleheads were blocking him in."

Hurt said he could have proven that Serna was backing up slowly by showing that there was no damage to the minivan's rear bumper. But law enforcement allowed the minivan to be released to the owners and the vehicle ended up in a Fresno wrecking yard, where it was destroyed, Hurt said. Law enforcement didn't take photographs of the rear of the minivan, he said.

Hurt said the civil rights lawsuit could have far-reaching impact in the way police treat people. "In the old days, if a kid got caught driving a stolen vehicle, it was called joyriding, but no one got shot for it," he said. "Nowadays, you have to fear for your life every time a cop makes a traffic stop."

This story was originally published May 30, 2018 at 2:19 PM with the headline "Teen shot by 2 police officers contends in federal suit that he was ambushed."