Family of drunken man killed by car sues US cops

The family of a drunken US man picked up by police officers and dropped off at a Taco Bell before he was fatally struck by a car has sued over his death, accusing authorities of racial discrimination and putting their loved one in danger as part of a "perverse joke" about his Mexican heritage.
The family of 22-year-old Uriel Juarez-Popoca filed a federal civil rights lawsuit against the Delaware County Sheriff's Office in Ohio, several of the agency's deputies and an officer with the Ohio State Highway Patrol on January 8. It seeks unspecified damages.
An attorney for the patrolman said the discrimination allegations are ludicrous and that the officers gave Juarez-Popoca "a major break" by letting him go, especially considering that his legal status in the country was in question.

The Cincinnati lawyer representing Juarez-Popoca's family, prominent civil-rights attorney Al Gerhardstein, said that proceeds from any settlement in the lawsuit or a jury trial would go to the wife, two children and parents of Juarez-Popoca, who live just south of Mexico City and had become financially dependent on remittance checks they received from Juarez-Popoca, who worked various jobs. Gerhardstein declined to comment on whether Juarez-Popoca was living legally in the US
It's undisputed that on the night of July 28, 2012, Juarez-Popoca was driving drunk just north of the city of Columbus, when he pulled over in a grass median.

Deputies responding to calls about a possible drunk driver found Juarez-Popoca, who spoke very little English, sitting inside his truck, clearly intoxicated.

At that point, the lawsuit says that the deputies should have followed standard protocol and given Juarez-Popoca a blood-alcohol test, and then either detained him or turned him over to a family member or friend pending charges.
Instead, they dropped him off at a Taco Bell restaurant about 8 kilometers away.
Soon after, Juarez-Popoca was killed by a car while walking along a nearby four-lane highway.
Police said at the time that they dropped Juarez-Popoca off at the Taco Bell expecting him to call for a ride.