By BILL HETHERMAN | City News Service
“This is a civil rights wrongful death case concerning the tragic and horrific death of a 31-year-old, Alex Rusanovskiy, who was suffering from a severe mental illness when he was needlessly shot several times, once in the face and once in the knee,” the plaintiffs’ attorneys stated in a filing Friday with Van Nuys Superior Court Judge Valerie Salkin in advance of a scheduled March 3 mandatory settlement conference.
Pressler fired his weapon despite the fact that his partner had a beanbag shotgun ready for use and additional officers were seconds from arrival, according to the brief. Nine people called 911 to report a man walking around in the middle of the street with a large knife and that information was relayed to Pressler, who subsequently saw the man with the weapon, according to the court papers of the lawyers representing the city.