Douglas Iversen

The Los Angeles City Council on Wednesday followed the city attorney's recommendations and agreed to spend almost $2 million to settle wrongful-death suits filed by the families of two men shot to death by police in separate incidents. One of the settlements, for $1.2 million, involved the highly publicized death of black tow-truck driver John L. Daniels Jr., 36.

An LAPD Board of Rights panel Wednesday recommended that Officer Douglas J. Iversen be fired for violating department policy in the controversial 1992 shooting death of an unarmed tow truck driver. The three-member panel unanimously agreed that the veteran motorcycle officer's "bad judgment call" was the latest in a series of "poor decision-making and bad judgment calls," said Capt. Valentino P. Paniccia, who headed the panel of three police captains.

A Los Angeles police officer was charged with murder Monday in the shooting death of a tow truck driver nearly a year ago, marking the first time in more than a decade that an officer in Los Angeles County will be tried for murder for a shooting while on duty. The complaint accuses motorcycle officer Douglas Iversen, 43, a 15-year veteran, of "willfully, unlawfully and with malice aforethought" murdering John L. Daniels Jr., 36, at a service station on Florence Avenue near Crenshaw Boulevard.

For the second time in less than four months, a deadlocked jury has resulted in a Los Angeles judge declaring a mistrial in the controversial 1992 case of a police officer who killed the unarmed driver of an unregistered tow truck in Southwest Los Angeles. Superior Court Judge Charles Horan on Monday dismissed a jury that had deliberated for more than three days after panelists reported they could not reach a unanimous verdict on whether Officer Douglas J.

A Los Angeles judge declared a mistrial Tuesday in the controversial 1992 case of a police officer who killed the unarmed driver of an unregistered tow truck, saying that jurors could not agree on whether to convict the officer of second-degree murder or a lesser charge of involuntary manslaughter. Superior Court Judge Charles Horan said the jury had deliberated for two days before reaching a 9-3 deadlock, with the majority in favor of convicting Los Angeles Police Officer Douglas J.

Accepting the recommendation of a hearing panel, Los Angeles Police Chief Willie L. Williams has fired Officer Douglas J. Iversen for violating department policy in the controversial 1992 shooting death of an unarmed tow truck driver, officials announced Tuesday. But the matter is not yet concluded.

A Los Angeles police Board of Rights panel Tuesday found Officer Douglas J. Iversen guilty of two counts of violating department policy in the fatal 1992 shooting of an unarmed tow truck driver at a Southwest Los Angeles gas station. The panel of three police captains immediately began a closed hearing on what discipline to recommend. Punishment for Iversen--a 15-year veteran who was twice unsuccessfully prosecuted on murder charges stemming from the incident--could include termination.

A South Los Angeles tow-truck driver who was killed last month during a confrontation with city police died of a single gunshot wound to his chest, according to an autopsy report released Wednesday. The bullet entered the upper left arm of 36-year-old John L. Daniels Jr. and crossed his torso, causing fatal damage to several organs along the way, the report says.

Three witnesses testified Tuesday that no one was in the path of a moving tow truck before its driver was shot to death by a Los Angeles police officer. In addition, two of the witnesses said the tow truck driver seemed to have been making sure that no one was in his way by waving his hands. Even after driver John Daniels was mortally wounded, one of the witnesses testified, he seemed to deliberately veer his vehicle to avoid hitting a car.

Jury selection began Friday in the trial of a Los Angeles police officer charged with second-degree murder in the shooting death of an unarmed tow truck driver. Opening statements in the trial of Douglas J. Iversen are expected to get under way next week, said Deputy Dist. Atty. Hank Goldberg. Iversen, 45, maintains that he saved lives when he shot John L. Daniels at a service station on Crenshaw Boulevard and Florence Avenue on July 1, 1992.