On April 10, 2014, plaintiff Jorge Valdez, 34, was being chased by the California Highway Patrol on southbound State Route 86, near Indio, after he failed to stop when the deputies attempted to pull him over for allegedly driving erratically. Valdez eventually ditched his vehicle and stole another one in a residential neighborhood in a further attempt to flee, but he ultimately crashed on CA-86, near 62nd Avenue, in Thermal. He then carjacked a recreational vehicle and took the vehicle’s owners hostage. The deputies located the RV on northbound CA-86 and another chase ensued. The deputies eventually used a spike strip to blow out the RV’s tires, causing the vehicle to come to a stop just north of Avenue 50, in Coachella. California Highway Patrol and sheriff’s units then surrounded the RV with guns drawn. When Valdez allegedly leaned out of the front door of the RV with a gun, the officers opened fire, causing Valdez to retreat into the vehicle. Several minutes later, a woman who was captured in the RV escaped and ran to the officers. She told them that Valdez shot her husband during the chase. A short time later, Valdez threw a handgun out of the RV’s door and crawled out of the vehicle, surrendering to the officers. He was placed in the back of a highway patrol unit until Sergeant Timothy White had medics attend to Valdez and take him to a hospital. Valdez was ultimately tried and prosecuted, and he is serving 49 years and 8 months in prison. He claimed he sustained a gunshot wound to a leg during the incident. Valdez sued White; White’s employer, Riverside County; and several deputies and officers involved in the incident. The matter only continued against White and the county. Plaintiff’s counsel noted that while Valdez was shot at around 5:45 p.m. on April 10, 2014, paramedics did not inspect Valdez’s wound until about 7:25 p.m. Counsel also noted that Valdez was admitted to the emergency room at John F. Kennedy Memorial Hospital, in Indio, at 8:20 p.m. Plaintiff’s counsel argued that White failed to summon medical care sooner even though he was aware that Valdez was shot via an earlier dispatch call. Defense counsel noted that Valdez was first taken into custody by the California Highway Patrol and then turned over to the Riverside County Sheriff’s Department. A deputy with the sheriff’s department then informed White that he heard Valdez say he was shot. Defense counsel contended that White immediately evaluated the wound, attended to Valdez and summoned medical care. Counsel also contended that White did everything reasonable under the totality of the circumstances. In addition, defense counsel argued that it was possible that Valdez caused the wound to himself during the pursuit or while exiting the RV, as the wound seemed to be characteristic of a handgun and not of the weapons used by the police., Valdez suffered a 4-centimeter, superficial gunshot wound to a leg. He was taken by ambulance to John F. Kennedy Memorial Hospital, in Indio, where the wound was cleaned and he received stitches. He was then discharged back into police custody. Valdez claimed he experienced pain and suffering while he remained in the back of patrol vehicle without being seen by medics. As a result, he sought recovery of damages for the pain and suffering he allegedly endured until he was seen by the medics.