BOY'S DEATH COSTS MODESTO $2.55M

Modesto will pay $2.55 million to the family of Alberto Sepulveda, the
11-year-old boy who was accidentally shot and killed during a September
2000 drug raid.

Police Chief Roy Wasden also agreed to change department procedures -- at
the request of the Sepulveda family -- to prevent accidental shootings in
the future.

Those changes include written policies directing officers:

Not to point their guns at someone who complies with police orders.

Not to take witnesses to the police station without their consent.

Not to take children to the police station without first advising their
parents.

Sepulveda family attorney Arturo Gonzalez, in a written statement released
Wednesday afternoon, called the changes significant.

Wasden, however, said officers have followed those procedures in the past,
even though they were not written policies.

"For myself and the department," Wasden said at a Wednesday news
conference, "this has been a difficult ordeal to go through. But what we
experienced isn't a fraction of what the family went through.

"I'm sorry this happened, and the department is sorry this happened."

The settlement, expected to be approved this morning by a federal judge in
Fresno, will end the family's wrongful death lawsuit against the city. Jury
selection had been scheduled to begin July 23.

Neither family members nor Gonzalez attended the Wednesday news conference.
They are expected to speak with reporters today.

The boy's mother, Sonia Sepulveda, spoke briefly Wednesday at the family's
Highway Village home.

Standing in the front doorway, she clutched the worn card of her attorney
in one hand. Her other hand came to rest, from time to time, on a pendant
holding a rose-tinted picture of Alberto.

Tears welled in Sepulveda's eyes. She said the pendant was a gift from her
mother-in-law, who died Wednesday morning in Riverbank.

Overwhelmed by the news of her mother-in-law's death and the announcement
of the lawsuit settlement, Sepulveda said she had nothing more to say.

Her son was killed when a shotgun -- held by officer David Hawn of the
Police Department's Special Weapons and Tactics team -- discharged as the
boy lay face down on his bedroom floor.

Hawn and other Modesto SWAT officers were assisting federal drug agents in
an arrest and search targeting Alberto's father, Moises Sepulveda Sr. The
search was part of a coordinated predawn raid at 14 homes in Stanislaus and
San Joaquin counties.

Later, the elder Sepulveda was charged with conspiracy to distribute
methamphetamine. He is awaiting a September trial in U.S. District Court in
Fresno.

Reports call it 'tragic accident'

In recent weeks, Gonzalez said he wanted the city to lobby federal
authorities to drop the drug charge against Sepulveda.

City officials refused, however, and said Wednesday that the lawyer's
request was not part of the settlement agreement.

Investigations by the Police Department, the Stanislaus County district
attorney's office and the state attorney general's office cleared Hawn of
any criminal wrongdoing in what officials called a "tragic accident."

Wasden, however, said his investigation uncovered a number of issues that
needed to be addressed, including communication problems between the
department and federal authorities.

"I've taken the necessary steps to address this communications issue by
establishing a new policy for the review of requests for the use of our
department's SWAT team," Wasden said, "and for the use of any (police)
personnel at the request of any outside agency."

The shooting also was the catalyst for a statewide commission set up to
examine SWAT policies and procedures. That panel should make its report in
the next few weeks.

Councilmen express sympathy

City Council members met in closed session Tuesday to sign off on the
settlement. There was no disagreement to the proposed deal, Councilmen
Bruce Froh-man and Denny Jackman said.

"I feel very sorry for the family, very sorry this happened," Frohman said,
"and very sorry for the police officers involved. The whole story was a sad
one, just a tragedy."

Frohman said there was no council resistance to the family's demands for
changes in police procedure. "We agreed that their requests were reasonable."

Added Jackman: "I'm sure we would all go back and redo the past so the boy
would not be harmed, but we are where we are. I hope this provides some
closure for everyone involved."

Councilman Will O'Bryant, a retired Alameda County sheriff's deputy, said:
"My heart naturally goes out the family of this boy. But with my background
in law enforcement, it also goes out to the officer and his family because
they suffer, too. This officer will relive this thing. So you have more
than one victim.

"There is never any closure on an incident like this, "but I'm glad to see
it's settled so people can get on with things."

Fed settlement $450,000

Earlier this year, the federal government agreed to pay the Sepulveda
family $450,000 for the federal role in the shooting. A city lawsuit
against the government was dismissed.

Gonzalez said he believes the $3 million-plus total for the settlement is
the most money ever paid by government entities in the wrongful death of a
child.

Attorney Greg Fox, representing the city, said he was not sure about that
claim but called the settlement a significant amount of money.

"It reflects the fact that a child died," said Fox, who attended the news
conference with City Attorney Michael Milich. "Both sides recognized that
the death of Alberto was a tragedy that called for accountability by the
city and the department."

Milich said the city's insurance will cover all but $500,000 of the
settlement. He said the half-million dollars would be drawn from the city's
insurance reserves and would have no effect on the city's budget.

Wasden said the department will continue to take steps to ensure that such
a tragedy never happens again.

"I think it is important for the public at large and especially the
citizens of Modesto to realize that the men and women of the Modesto Police
Department are committed to performing their law enforcement functions to
the highest professional standards," he said.

"That was the case prior to and in the wake of this tragic incident.
Because of this incident, we are a better police department and even more
committed to the service of our community."

Bee staff writers Zeke Minaya and Garth Stapley contributed to this report.