From [HERE] The family of a Rosamond man, who died in the custody of the Sheriff's Department two years ago, has been awarded $4.5 million. A jury found Tuesday that the defendants acted negligently, causing the death of Jose Lucero and serious emotional distress to his parents, Florencio and Lilia, who witnessed the confrontation. The deputies, Daniel Willis, Ryan Greer, Angelos Gonzalez and Jonathan Juden, are still employed with the sheriff's department. The deputies did not face criminal charges in the death.

Attorney Michael Curls, who represents the Lucero family, says Jose Lucero suffered from mental illness and was simply hallucinating. "The evidence that we believe which prevailed, is that once he ran behind his father and his father moved, then one of the officers, two of the officers shot him with tasers and he went to the ground. Then the officers proceeded to beat him for numerous times and they tased him numerous times to the point where he basically died," said Curls. During the incident, deputies used a Taser on Lucero 29 times.

On Dec. 18, 2010, sheriff's deputies went to Lucero's home because he had been repeatedly making calls to 911, saying that a friend in Lancaster was being assaulted and murdered, said Los Angeles attorney Michael Curls, who represented the Luceros.

The confrontation started with three deputies against Lucero, but a fourth arrived later. The deputies shocked Lucero with a Taser about 29 times, Curls said. The situation was also exacerbated when one of the deputies used pepper spray in the closed environment of the home, causing the deputies to suffer the pepper spray's symptoms, as well. The incident lasted about six minutes.