Johnson v. Vallco Shopping Mall CA6

Background In the evening of February 18, 2010, plaintiff's son, Desmond, went to Vallco with Kevin R. and his brother, Ronald R. All were minors at that time.1 The R. brothers had been banned from the mall, so when they were spotted by IPC officer Shawn Johnson,

1 Desmond is no longer a minor, having turned 18 in July 2012. they were told to leave. As Officer Johnson escorted the three youths out of the mall, Ronald threatened Johnson and his family, and he lifted his right arm as if to throw a punch. The officer raised his arm to defend himself, and unintentionally hit Ronald with his walkie-talkie. A melee erupted, during which Johnson was repeatedly hit and kicked and briefly lost consciousness. At some point Desmond joined the attack on Johnson. He also attacked Paul Le, a former Vallco security guard who had followed the group as they were being escorted outside. Two other IPC security guards, Stas Plotnikov and Jason Robinson, responded to Johnson's radio calls for assistance. Plotnikov, who had seen Desmond hitting Le several times, grabbed Desmond and put him in a sleeper hold until Desmond passed out. When Johnson regained consciousness and got up, he…