On Dec. 16, 2010, at 8 p.m., plaintiff Rohayent Gomez Eriza, age 13, and his friends were playing a game of cops and robbers with toy guns in the 3000 block of Verduco Roard in Glassell Park. Los Angeles Police Officer Victor Abarca was on routine patrol with his partner when they came upon them. Rohayent was standing behind a parked van. He claimed that Abarca came around the side of the van and gave a command for Rohayent not to move and then fired a single shot when the boy took a step out from behind the van. Rohayent was hit in the chest and was rendered paralyzed. Rohayent’s mother, Maria de Jesus Eriza Duque, acting on his behalf, sued Abarca for negligence and excessive force and the police department for vicarious liability. The plaintiffs’ expert biomechanical engineer testified that the bullet’s trajectory did not match the officer’s account of the shooting. The expert said that physical evidence indicated that the plaintiff’s left shoulder was forward; that the trajectory of the bullet was left to right and downward; and that the plaintiff had to be standing about 3 feet to the officer’s left. The expert said that put the plaintiff directly at the corner of the van, where he testified that he had stepped out from before he was shot. Abarca claimed that Rohayent ignored repeated commands to come out from behind the van. Abarca claimed that when the plaintiff finally complied, he saw Rohayent holding a toy gun that he assumed to be real. Abarca claimed that he feared for his life and drew his weapon and fired. Defense counsel contended that the plaintiff’s mother purchased his toy gun and was therefore comparatively negligent. Defense counsel further argued that the gun looks similar to a Beretta 9-mm handgun. Defense counsel maintained that the replica gun was indistinguishable from the real firearm on the dark night of the incident. , Rohayent was rushed to Los Angeles County USC Medical Center. Doctors determined that he sustained a single shot to his upper left shoulder and through his left clavicle that punctured the top part of his left lung. The bullet then tore through the T-3 and T-4 vertebrae and severed his spinal cord. He was in the hospital for three weeks during which he was intubated and underwent a lobectomy to remove the upper left lobe in his lung. The plaintiff was paralyzed from the chest down. After he was discharged from the hospital, Rohayent spent three months in a rehabilitation center. The plaintiff’s medical experts testified that Rohayent is permanently paralyzed and will remain in a wheelchair the rest of his life. Plaintiff’s counsel argued that Rohayent continues to have respiratory problems caused by his long intubation period in the hospital. Plaintiff’s counsel further claimed that Rohayent sustained scarring in his bronchial tubes that makes it difficult for him to clear out mucus from his chest. He will need ongoing respiratory monitoring. The defense did not dispute the .