Popoca’s family sues county
Dustin Ensinger densinger@civitasmedia.com

January 20,1014
Dustin Ensinger

The family of a man struck and killed by a vehicle along U.S. 36 after being dropped off at a restaurant by local law enforcement officials has filed a wrongful death lawsuit in federal court.

Uriel Juarez-Popoca’s family filed the lawsuit in U.S. District Court Wednesday. It names Delaware County, former Delaware County Sherrif’s Office (DCSO) deputies Chris Hughes and Derek Beggs, Ohio State Highway Patrol trooper Sean Carpenter and several other members of the DCSO as plaintiffs in the case.

Orange Township Fiscal Officer Joel Spitzer is the attorney of record with the Juarez-Popoca family and will serve as co-counsel in the case.

“The Popoca family is devastated by Uriel’s death,” he said in a statement.

The DCSO said it has been made aware of the lawsuit.

“The Delaware County Sheriff’s Office and County Prosecutor’s Office are currently reviewing the complaint filed on behalf of the Popoca Family,” Sheriff Russ Martin said. “As usual, we are discouraged from commenting on pending litigation. We will work closely with all the parties in the process.”

The lawsuit alleges that the plaintiffs engaged in a “perverse joke” on the night of July 28, 2012 after they discovered Juarez-Popoca stopped along Interstate 71 in an obviously intoxicated state and dropped him off at a nearby Taco Bell instead of taking him into custody.

Juarez-Popoca, who was 22 at the time, later walked out of the restaurant and onto U.S. 36, where he was fatally struck by an oncoming motorist.

The three law enforcement officials directly involved – Beggs, Hughes and Carpenter - were each charged with two misdemeanor counts of dereliction of duty.

The case went to trial in December 2012 at the Delaware City Municipal Court.

Hughes accepted a no contest plea hours before jury selection began and was convicted of a lesser charge of failure to aid a law enforcement officer, a minor misdemeanor. He was fined $20 plus court costs, a total of $183.

After four days of court proceedings, a jury found Beggs and Carpenter guilty of two counts of dereliction of duty. They were fined $1,000 plus court fees, a total of $1,809.80 for each officer.

All three officers were later fired.

However, the conviction against Carpenter was later overturned because he “did not contribute to the decision-making process” that led to the death of Juarez-Popoca, the 5th District Court of Appeals ruled. He has since won an arbitration case that will allow him to return to work.

Juarez-Popoca was an illegal immigrant. His family, including two daughters, remains in Mexico.

“A cruel and dangerous joke was played by these officers on a disoriented and confused man. Mr. Popoca’s death was predictable,’ lead counsel Al Gerhardstein said in a statement. “This case will remind all officers that every person is entitled to fair treatment – including people from Mexico.”

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