Man shot in leg during traffic stop files suit against deputy, sheriff’s office
A man shot by an Orange County sheriff’s deputy years ago has now filed a lawsuit against the agency.
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It comes after the 2020 incident where a man was stopped by deputies and shot.
Edenilson Urbina, then 18, was initially pulled over for a minor traffic offense.
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Deputy Bruce Stolk chased Urbina and shot him.
Stolk was indicted by a grand jury two years later but then last year the charges were dropped.
Now, this lawsuit filed by Urbina accuses Deputy Stolk of aggravated battery and the sheriff’s office of negligence.
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“We did everything that we were supposed to do for Mr. Urbina to try to resolve this without having to file a suit and the Sheriff’s Office Association never made an offer to us to resolve this. I mean, my client was shot in the leg,” said attorney Andrew Darling. “He’s been dealing with the ramifications for that and will deal with that for the rest of his life and that’s why we had to go the route that we went.”
According to his arrest report, Urbina was stopped because he was not wearing eye protection on his motorcycle.
Deputies approached him at a gas station as he waited in line at a food truck, and he ran off.
Shaky body worn camera video shows Stolk fired his gun seconds after getting out of his car as Urbina ran between nearby apartment buildings.
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Stolk fired and the bullet struck Urbina in the leg. The video showed him on the ground with arms outstretched. No weapons were ever found on Urbina despite Stolk claiming he acted in self-defense.
The suit claims Stolk shot the 18-year-old while being unarmed and only suspected of a traffic offense, accusing the sheriff’s officer of aggravated battery and negligence.
“This should never happen. This is not a scenario where any law enforcement officer was in any danger,” darling said. “They created the situation. Then they made bad decisions.”
Nobody was going to hold him accountable and that’s why we had to go the route that we went, Darling added.
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