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Kin of man shot by transit cop sues for millions

The family of a man slain by a San Francisco Bay Area transit police officer early New Year's Day has filed a multimillion-dollar lawsuit.
Image: Oscar Grant
Oscar Grant, a 22-year-old transit rider was shot and killed by BART police on New Year's Day, 2009. His family has filed a multimillion-dollar wrongful death lawsuit against Bay Area transit police.The Law Offices of John Burris via AP FILE
/ Source: The Associated Press

The family of a man slain by a San Francisco Bay Area transit police officer early New Year's Day has filed a multimillion-dollar lawsuit.

Attorney John Burris said Oscar Grant's family filed a $50 million wrongful death lawsuit in federal court in Oakland on Monday against the Bay Area Rapid Transit agency, former officer Johannes Mehserle, the agency's police Chief Gary Gee and officers Tony Pirone and Marysol Domenici.

Burris called the shooting intentional. He said Grant was unlawfully detained, arrested and deprived of medical care after he was shot by Mehserle on a train station platform in Oakland.

Mehserle has pleaded not guilty to murder and is free after posting $3 million bail. His preliminary hearing is set for March 23.