TACOMA, Wash. (AP) — The families of three Lakewood police officers slain as they sat in a coffee shop last November are filing claims against Pierce County for $134 million.
The News Tribune newspaper of Tacoma reports that the claims are expected to be filed on Friday. The claims are the first step toward filing a lawsuit.
The families of officers Mark Renninger, Ronald Owens and Greg Richards contend the county should have done more to keep Maurice Clemmons locked up. Clemmons was in and out of jail in the months before the shootings, and threatened to kill jail staff during one of his bookings.
Clemmons also made several recorded phone calls from the Pierce County Jail in which he spoke of killing police.
