Azusa Officers Cleared in Wrongful Death Suit

POMONA — A jury cleared three Azusa police officers Friday in a wrongful death lawsuit filed by the family of a Duarte man whom the officers shot to death during a July 1997 confrontation.

Fernando Hernandez, 28, was shot several times July 2, 1997, when the officers responded to a report of a man with a knife walking toward the Police Department.

Azusa Police Sgts. Andrew Sutcliffe and Frank Gilbert Chavez and Det. Stephan Hunt told jurors that they opened fire on Hernandez when he rushed toward them with the knife clutched beneath a book.

The suit by Hernandez’s family alleged wrongful death, violation of constitutional rights and use of excessive force. They said Hernandez had a kitchen knife in his left pants pocket, and it remained there during the confrontation.