Overview
- U.S. District Judge Gregory Presnell ruled Deputies Ramy Yacoub and Scott Koffinas are not entitled to qualified immunity, allowing the federal civil lawsuit to proceed.
- The order criticizes the decision to use unmarked cars to box in the suspects over a reported $46 theft and notes a response involving 28 deputies and a helicopter.
- Presnell underscores that emergency lights were not activated until after the box-in and that the occupants may not have realized they were encountering law enforcement.
- The ruling recounts that Yacoub fired 17 rounds and Koffinas 14 into the vehicle, killing Jayden Baez and wounding Michael Gomez and Joseph Lowe, with Ian Joi detained at the scene.
- Broader claims against the sheriff’s office were pared back, and remaining factual disputes will be decided by a jury, with a pretrial conference set for March 25 and trial expected in April.