Innocent Bystanders Shouldn’t Have to Pay for Crime

When random chance makes people victims of the chaos induced by police pursuit of a criminal, they shouldn’t have to foot the bill.

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Carlos Pena

Institute for Justice

Law enforcement costs money, and taxpayers share the burden. But innocent bystander Carlos Pena got stuck with the full tab when an armed man picked his business at random for a police standoff in Los Angeles.

Pena was working in his shop, NoHo Printing and Graphics, when he heard a helicopter on August 3, 2022. Pena stepped outside to investigate and saw the man running toward him, pursued by U.S. marshals with weapons drawn. The man assaulted Pena, then rushed into the shop alone and closed the door.

DJ

About the Author

Daryl James

Daryl James is a writer at the Institute for Justice in Arlington, Va.

JR

About the Author

Jeffrey Redfern

Jeffrey Redfern is an attorney at the Institute for Justice in Arlington, Virginia. He is a Harvard Law School graduate who previously litigated appellate cases at Mayer Brown in Washington, D.C.

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