Tuesday, April 7, 2009

Family Sues City Over Excelsior Triple Homicide

Family Sues SF Over Triple Killing Of Father, Sons

SAN FRANCISCO (BCN) ―

Attorneys for the surviving family members of a father and two sons fatally shot in San Francisco's Excelsior district in 2008 have filed a lawsuit against the city, alleging its sanctuary policy contributed to their deaths.

Edwin Ramos, a 22-year-old suspected member of the MS-13 street gang, is being held without bail for allegedly fatally shooting Anthony "Tony" Bologna, 48, and his sons Michael, 20, and Matthew, 16, on June 22.

The three were found shot inside their car. Police have said they may have been mistaken for rival gang members.

In a lawsuit filed Friday in San Francisco Superior Court, the Bologna family alleges the city's "illegal sanctuary policies were a substantial factor" in the killings.

The lawsuit claims Ramos was in the country illegally, had a history of violence and several prior contacts with San Francisco police as a minor, but the sanctuary policy kept police and juvenile probation officers from reporting him to federal immigration authorities for deportation.

"What we're saying is that the city adopted and enforced a policy that was actually inconsistent with and prohibited by federal law," Michael Kelly, an attorney for the Bologna family, said Tuesday.

Kelly said if the case goes to trial, a jury would decide to what extent the city was responsible for the deaths.

The city attorney's office declined to comment on the case. A statement from Mayor Gavin Newsom's office also declined to address the case specifically.

"I am deeply sympathetic to the Bologna family's devastating loss," said Newsom in the statement. "A terrible crime was committed and my heart goes out to the family."

Ramos faces three counts of murder and multiple special allegations involving gang membership, firearm use and multiple murders that could result in life in prison without parole, and is still awaiting trial.

A preliminary hearing in the criminal case is scheduled for May.

article link

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

he better go to jail. better be miserable. that gun was also used in three other homicides according to SFPD. newsom better do a little bit more than acknowlage that it is unsettling. if he doesnt, i will do everything in my power to protest his governor race. and camila harris has done nothing in her career to impress me. this isnt about politics. what happened to the bologna's the joldic family, phils family, and the woman that was shot driving on 280 just outside of alamany projects was person, and ruptured a lot of peoples lives.

Anonymous said...

*personal