Family of man killed aboard patrol boat files lawsuit
Relatives of the 37-year-old bodybuilder seek punitive damages from the officer who shot him during a struggle. The man had been rescued after jumping from a cruise ship.
The family of a man who got into a fatal struggle with officers after they rescued him from San Diego Bay said Friday that they are filing a federal civil rights lawsuit seeking punitive damages against the officer who shot him.
San Diego Harbor Police reported that Steven Hirschfield, 37, fought with officers on a patrol boat after voluntarily jumping 30 feet from a cruise ship last Saturday. But his family disputes the police account and vows to conduct its own investigation.
Hirschfield, a performer and bodybuilder who lived in West Hollywood, had been hired to dance aboard the Circuit Daze harbor cruise.
About an hour into the cruise, crew members called police to report a man overboard. Hirschfield began fighting with officers once aboard the patrol boat, police said. Hirschfield grabbed one officer's Taser gun and struck him in the face with it before trying to seize the officer's handgun, police said. At that point, another officer shot Hirschfield.
joanna.lin@latimes.com
- L.A. man killed by police after San Diego Bay rescue Jul 21, 2008
- Man Shot Dead in Dispute at Mission Bay Hotel Sep 23, 1990
- Youth Arrested in Mission Bay Killing Nov 23, 1990
