LAWSUIT SAYS POLICE MISTAKE KILLED MAN

A lawsuit filed Wednesday for the survivors of a police victim tells a story
of death and terror inflicted on a family by mistake.

According to the wrongful-death suit, El Monte SWAT officers in black ski
masks shot their way into the Compton home of Mario Paz just before midnight
Aug. 9 and shot the grandfather, 65, in the back as he kneeled by his bed.

The lawsuit, which seeks unspecified damages for the Paz family, names the
cities of El Monte and Compton as defendants along with El Monte police Sgt.
George Scott Hopkins, who shot Paz.

El Monte police raided the Paz home in an investigation of an alleged drug
trafficker who once lived next door.

Police said three pistols, a .22-caliber rifle and $10,000 in cash were
found in the house. The raid yielded no drugs, no arrests and no charges.

Family attorney Johnnie L. Cochran Jr. said the money was on the bed because
Paz thought the intruders were robbers and was offering them the cash in an
effort to save his life.

There was no immediate comment by El Monte.