- Police Brutality Watch

Unarmed Latino Man reaching for Wallet Shot Dead by Police

The mother and the estate of a Guatemalan immigrant shot and killed by a Bellevue police officer in August 2001 have filed a federal lawsuit against Bellevue Police Chief Jim Montgomery and Michael Hetle, the officer involved. Hetle is no longer is with the Bellevue police. The suit, filed yesterday in U.S. District Court in Seattle, alleges Montgomery failed to adequately train or discipline Hetle despite what the suit said was Hetle's history of excessive force. It seeks unspecified damages for the shooting of 24-year-old Nelson Martinez Mendez. The killing triggered anger and frustration in the Latino community over police treatment. Martinez was unarmed when he was shot in the parking lot of an East Bellevue condominium. Hetle, responding to a domestic-violence complaint, had been warned Martinez might have a knife. He shot Martinez twice after the man reached for what turned out to be a wallet. An inquest jury determined Hetle had reason to fear for his life when he shot Martinez, and county prosecutors ruled the killing a justified homicide. [more]