Excessive force lawsuit filed

Niles Meservey

The daughter of Niles Meservey, of Stanwood, filed a claim against the city of Everett last week related to her father's death.

Meservey, 51, was shot by an Everett Police officer June 10. Police had responded to reports of an intoxicated man attempting to drive away from the Chuckwagon Inn restaurant in Everett.

Since then, Meservey's death has been under investigation by the Snohomish County Multiple Agency Response Team (SMART), a team of 30 detectives from various law enforcement agencies in the county who investigate officer-involved incidents.

Paul Luvera, a Seattle lawyer, filed a claim on behalf of Tanda Louden, Meservey's daughter. The claim alleges that the Everett Police Department used excessive force and was negligent and reckless.

Meservey was first shot with a Taser while sitting in his stopped car, and then was shot multiple times by a police officer, according to the claim.

"The killing was negligent and totally unjustified as well as unnecessary under the circumstances," the claim reads.

Tanda Louden, 31, of Minnesota, said she filed the claim because she wants to know why her father was shot.

"It has been more than three months since the police killed my dad, and my family wants to know why," she said in a press release. "The police have refused to release their investigation."

The Snohomish County Prosecutor's office has not yet decided whether or not a crime was committed, said Mark Roe, senor deputy prosecutor, in a press release. Roe received the SMART investigation into Meservey's death on Aug. 31.

"The pace of this investigation is much quicker than many other SMART investigations, which often take as long as a year for scientific testing and crime lab work to be done," he said.

Before the prosecutor's office makes a decision or an announcement, the family will be invited to discuss the case, Roe said.

As with any case, SMART detectives examine the scene and gather evidence, along with interviewing the people involved and any witnesses, said Rebecca Hover, public information officer for the Snohomish County Sheriff's Office. The result of the investigation goes to the prosecutor's office, which decides whether the shooting was justified.

On June 10, officers tried to stop Meservey, but he continued to try to leave the parking lot, according to the SMART press release. One of the officers used a Taser, an electroshock weapon.

Meservey's Corvette struck a fence, and the fence knocked a woman down, and then shots were fired, according to the release. Meservey was pronounced dead on the scene.

Meservey was sitting in his car, which was blocked by police vehicles and a fence, when he was hit with a Taser and then shot seven times in the back, Luvera said in a press release.

"I cannot think of any reason, or any circumstance, in which the action of the police in this case could be justified," he said.

The city of Everett is reviewing Louden's claim and the SMART investigation, said Kate Reardon, city public information director. The officer who was involved in the shooting has been placed on administrative leave.

Staff Reporter Kristi Pihl: 629-8066 ext. 125 or kpihl@scnews.com.