Pierce County has paid $1.75 million to settle a lawsuit filed in 2023 by a man who was paralyzed when a deputy shot him in the back as he fled after a chase in a stolen car, according to court records.

Bryan Jose Galeana Mendoza will be in a wheelchair the rest of his life following the May 12, 2022, shooting outside his home. He was 19 at the time.

The settlement was finalized Oct. 2, according to the docket in U.S. District Court in Tacoma.

According to the lawsuit and dash-camera footage released by the sheriff’s office, Galeana Mendoza was with his pregnant girlfriend and behind the wheel of a reportedly stolen BMW 335i sedan that was stopped at a red light in Puyallup.

The car had been stolen at gunpoint two days earlier and was associated with several crimes in the area, accordi

See Full Page