Crime & Safety

$4.4 Million for Family of Unarmed Marine Shot by Former Mission Viejo Deputy

Orange County agreed to pay $4.4 million to settle a federal lawsuit filed by the family of Manuel Levi Loggins Jr who was killed by a deputy in San Clemente.

Orange County agreed to pay $4.4 million to settle a federal lawsuit filed by the family of an unarmed Marine fatally shot by a former Mission Viejo sheriff's deputy in 2012, officials said today.

Orange County supervisors voted April 23 to authorize their attorneys to negotiate a settlement. Officials did not release any details about the settlement beyond the cost, said Howard Sutter, a spokesman for the county chief executive's office. 

Marine Sgt. Manuel Levi Loggins Jr, 31, was fatally shot Feb. 7 at San Clemente High School while his daughters, 9 and 14, were in a nearby SUV.

The deputy who shot him, Darren Sandberg, worked in Mission Viejo until mid-2011, then transfered to the Sheriff's Academy to work as an instructor.

When supervisors voted to pursue the settlement, Orange County Board Chairman Shawn Nelson said, "Obviously it's a terrible tragedy every way around... It's just a tragedy and there isn't anyone involved who wouldn't agree." 

Nelson said the supervisors had a "duty on behalf of the taxpayers" and "to do right by the people who put in a claim." 

The Loggins family's attorney, Brian Dunn, was not immediately available for comment. 

Orange County District Attorney Tony Rackauckas announced Sept. 28 that his office determined Sandberg was justified in fatally shooting Loggins. 

According to the District Attorney's Office, the Camp Pendleton-based Marine appeared angry and was speeding before he crashed a GMC Yukon through the high school's gate about 4:45 a.m. 

Sandberg, who was in another part of the same parking lot, filling out paperwork near the end of his shift, saw what happened and went to investigate. He pulled up behind the SUV and ordered Loggins out. 

Loggins got out of the SUV, but he started walking toward the school's athletic field, ignoring orders to stop, according to the sheriff's department. When he turned toward Sandberg, he was fatally shot. 

Loggins was unarmed. 

Loggins, a native of Joliet, Ill., liked to take his family to the athletic field for early morning workouts and Bible study, Dunn has said. 

- City News Service


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