STOCKTON, Calif. — The family of a man who was shot and killed by police agreed to a $3.24 million settlement with the city of Stockton on Friday.
Colby Friday's daughters filed a wrongful death lawsuit against the city of Stockton, the Stockton Police Department, Police Chief Eric. T Jones and officer David Wells in 2017 after he was killed in 2016.
According to Stockton police at the time, Officer David Wells confronted Friday, saying he matched the description of a robbery suspect. At one point, Friday ran away from Wells. Friday stopped running and fought with Wells, which is when police say the shooting happened.
Friday's family argued in court that Wells shot him in the back. A witness claimed to hear Wells say, "I am going to shoot you in the back."
Jones told ABC10 Wells was disciplined for not turning on his body camera. The district attorney declined to prosecute and he remains a Stockton police officer. City officials said they couldn't comment.
Friday's family released a statement regarding the statement, saying his death will forever haunt his children.
"Colby's girls will never get to say, 'Hi Dad," the statement reads. "David Wells will forever be out there terrorizing our communities and streets till we revoke the California police officer bill of rights."
Mark Merin, who represented Friday's family, released a statement saying Wells was identified in the Stockton community prior to the shooting as an abusive officer. He also claimed Wells only stopped Friday because he fit the description "of another black man."
"Wells had never seen the person who was wanted and he had never even seen a photograph of the wanted person, but the person they were seeking was a Black male, 6 feet tall with hair described as being in cornrows," Merin said.
