SAN DIEGO — The city of San Diego has tentatively agreed to pay $350,000 to the family of a 60-year-old homeless man who was struck and killed while running across South 47th Street by an on-duty San Diego Police Officer who was on his phone while driving.
San Diego City Council is expected to give final approval to pay $350,000 to settle a wrongful death lawsuit filed by the family of Jesus Cazares, who was struck by a San Diego Police Office in September 2018.
According to a traffic investigation included as a court exhibit, Cazares darted across South 47th Street just before 8 pm as SDPD Officer Javier Morales was driving to the K9 Range to begin his shift.
Morales told investigators that he was on talking to his girlfriend on his cell phone when he saw "arms flailing" near his left-front fender.
"I'm going to be honest," Morales told the police investigator after the collision, "I was on my phone. I had it on speaker mode, but I was holding it in my right hand. I think my hand was resting on my computer."
In addition to talking on his phone, investigators also found that Morales had been speeding, driving approximately 5-to-10 miles per hour over the 35-mile-per-hour speed limit.
Despite the fact that investigators found that Morales was on a personal call while driving, and speeding, they concluded that Cazares was at fault for the collision.
"[Cazares] was the proximate cause of the collision and his death. [He] had a cleared view of [Morales] than [Morales] had of [him]," read the traffic report.
In addition, the investigator found that Cazares was not in a designated crosswalk.
As for Morales talking on his cell phone, the investigator wrote that officers and other emergency service workers are exempt from a state law that prohibits the use of cell phones while driving.
