The Real Housewives of Orange County alum Lydia McLaughlin and her family are considering legal action against Newport Beach’s police department following the death of her brother Geoffrey Stirling.
According to reports from US Weekly, attorney James S. Terrell has spoken with Geoffrey’s family about exploring their legal options. They are looking into legal action against the city of Newport Beach, its police department, and the officer involved with the shooting.
Lydia and her family want justice for Geoffrey:
“All the family wants is to find out what happened to their brother and their son. Next thing they want to see is if they can get justice for him. And, not just for him, but for everyone like him, pulled over in a similar situation.”
According to the attorney, the family has already contacted a police policy and practices expert who has reviewed the dash cam footage. They also plan to file a governmental court claim in California to bring a lawsuit against the city and police department.
The family has also conducted an independent autopsy, according to attorney Sharon Brunner. “Initial impressions are that he bled out so we know that is an issue. There is concern about whether there were shots to his back.”
“The family is totally devastated and totally crushed,” Terrell added. “It’s bigger than this wonderful young man who their family loved. The only way to get what really happened is through the court system.”
The body cam footage:
The Newport Beach Police Department released a criminal incident community briefing video — including body cam footage — detailing the events surrounding an officer-involved shooting that occurred with Geoffrey.
“The Newport Beach PD remains committed to transparency and accountability in all of its operations. The release of this video is part of our ongoing efforts to keep the community informed and engaged.”
In the briefing video, Sergeant Steve Oberon explained that an officer-involved shooting occurred after “Mr. Stirling struck the officer several times in the head. Then, [he] removed the officer’s taser from his duty belt.” Dash cam footage showed an officer asking Geoffrey to sit on the curb away from his motorcycle after being pulled over for allegedly running a red light.
“I don’t want to sit down or come here,” Geoffrey replied before trying to reach for his own ID. “Don’t shoot me.” When the officer appeared to turn his back briefly to get on his radio, Geoffrey lunged toward him. An altercation between the parties occurred.
Geoffrey seemingly grabbed the cop’s taser and pointed it at the cop. The Stirling family said the officer then shot him six times. Geoffrey was later transported to a hospital where he died at the age of 45.
The debriefing:
The lawyer asked, “[The officer] already had backup coming to him, [so] why did he go aggressively on him? Escalating it and charging him is not using his skills and tools he’s trained to do. He had help coming, he didn’t need to attack him. There are so many things he could have done.”
Terrell believes the officer could have maced Geoffrey or taken a taser out himself and asked the individual to “stand right there and wait.”
“You can hear a siren, his backup is coming. That would have been a good thing to do. They had some dialogue and sometimes that is all you need. Running over to him is escalating. It’s win or lose when you do that, and it’s not a good option. It’s a very bad option.”
