The family of a Virginia man who was fatally shot by U.S. Park Police in 2017 has agreed to settle a wrongful-death lawsuit against the government for $5 million, according to a court filing on Friday.

The expected settlement, which awaits final approval by a judge, came nearly six years after Bijan Ghaisar, 25, of McLean, Va., was shot five times by two U.S. Park Police officers who had chased his car on George Washington Memorial Parkway after a fender-bender.

Mr. Ghaisar’s parents, James and Kelly Ghaisar, will receive $3.75 million, and their lawyers will get $1.25 million, according to court records.

Mr. Ghaisar’s parents could not be reached for comment on Friday evening, and their lawyers did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

The Park Police referred questions to the Interior Department, which did not immediately respond to requests for comment on Friday.

The lawsuit brought by Mr. Ghaisar’s parents argued that the Park Police officers, Lucas Vinyard and Alejandro Amaya, used excessive force. The Park Police have jurisdiction over the George Washington Memorial Parkway, near the nation’s capital.

For more than five years, Mr. Ghaisar’s case was stuck in a legal deadlock: First, federal prosecutors declined to charge the officers. Then in 2020, the Fairfax Commonwealth’s attorney, Steve Descano, charged them with manslaughter, but a federal judge dismissed the case, according to court records. Mr. Descano appealed, but after Mark Herring, the former Democratic state attorney general, lost re-election, his replacement, Jason Miyares, a Republican, ordered the charges dropped.

The Ghaisars join a long list of other families who have settled cases involving relatives killed by police officers. Last year, the city of Rochester, N.Y., settled a lawsuit involving the family of Daniel Prude, a Black man whose 2020 death after being restrained by Rochester police officers roiled a nation already reeling from other police-involved killings.

In December, the city of Louisville, Ky., agreed to pay $2 million to settle lawsuits brought by the boyfriend of Breonna Taylor, a Black woman who was fatally shot by police officers in 2020 and whose death ignited nationwide protests against police brutality.

On Nov. 17, 2017, at 7:31 p.m., Mr. Ghaisar was driving south on George Washington Memorial Parkway — a federal road — in a green Jeep when he abruptly “stopped in the roadway,” according to a traffic crash report from the Interior Department.

The car behind Mr. Ghaisar then rear-ended him, according to the report, and Mr. Ghaisar drove away.

The driver who struck Mr. Ghaisar’s Jeep got a citation for failing to “maintain proper control,” according to the police report, which did not classify the episode as a hit-and-run.

It’s unclear why the police sought Mr. Ghaisar, since the other driver was cited.

A video of the shooting released in 2018 by the Fairfax County Police Department begins about six minutes after the fender bender. It appears to show the Jeep being pursued by a Park Police car, its lights flashing and sirens blaring. A Fairfax County police officer follows behind.

The chase continues along several residential streets, and at 7:41 p.m., the Jeep stops at a stop sign. The Park Police vehicle then wheels around in front of it, effectively blocking it.

One officer approaches the Jeep’s driver-side door, the video shows, with a gun drawn and pointed toward the door’s window. The Jeep moves slightly forward, and one gunshot rings out.

After a brief pause, three more shots are fired as the car continues to lurch forward. Another officer then approaches, and the sound of a fifth gunshot can be heard on the video.

After having come to a stop during the gunfire, the Jeep veers to the right — a few feet toward the stop sign and off the road. Two more gunshots can be heard.

Another two gunshots are heard after the Jeep lurches a few feet farther off the road and into a ditch.

Mr. Ghaisar was shot four times on the left side of his head, and once in his right wrist, according to his family’s lawyers. He died 10 days later.

Source: Read Full Article