Arizona Man Says Sheriff Nancy Guthrie’s Deputies Paralyzed Him After Swatting Call, Demands $176M

An Arizona man who says deputies shot him after a false “swatting” report is seeking $176 million from the Pima County Sheriff’s Department, alleging the encounter left him partially paralyzed.

Axeel Melendez, 24, and his mother, Carmen Melendez, have filed a notice of claim against the Pima County Sheriff’s Office and Sheriff Chris Nanos, a step that indicates they plan to pursue a lawsuit, Arizona Public Media reported.

Their attorney, Dev Sethi, told the outlet that Melendez and his mother were the victims of a swatting hoax that brought a large law enforcement response to their home. Swatting refers to a criminal prank in which someone makes a false emergency report to send police or deputies to a targeted address.

“Our justice system recognizes the dignity of a human life and the importance of the completeness of your body. Axeel’s health, his independence, his ability to earn a living, his sense of security, that’s all been stolen away from him,” Sethi said.

According to Sethi, the incident began April 10 when someone pretending to be Melendez called 311, the non-emergency line, and claimed that his father had shot his sister while providing Melendez’s address.

“This morning of the April 10 call has many red flags and hallmarks of it being a fake call, including…this call came into 311. Nobody reporting an emergency calls 311,” Sethi said.

Sethi also said the call came from an out-of-state area code and that the caller mispronounced Melendez’s first name.

Melendez received a threatening message from a hacker who stole his personal information during an online video game and demanded a ransom to return his accounts and passwords, his attorney said, even threatening to report him to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement because of his Hispanic name.

After the threat, Melendez called 911 and shared his concerns about a possible swatting incident and was allegedly reassured there are safeguards.

“He tells a 911 operator all of this and she essentially downplays it and says, ‘Don’t worry, that’s not how it works. They can’t just call 911 and have the SWAT team show up at your house,” Sethi said.

According to the attorney, Pima County deputies allegedly ignored a warning that Melendez’s address was a known possible swatting target, stating that she approached the home with a mindset to “treat it like it’s real until it’s not real.”

Believing an intruder was breaking in, Melendez grabbed his family’s legally owned handgun and took cover behind his bedroom door as deputies smashed through the window, according to the claim. The deputies then allegedly opened fire.

Melendez says he was hit in his right thigh and left shoulder, which left him with a spinal court injury in addition to broken ribs and a broken leg.

“He did everything we teach our kids to do. When you’re in danger, when somebody’s threatening you, what’s the first thing we tell all of our children? Call the police,” Sethi said. “Axeel is a vulnerable young man, his life has been upended. He has real present needs and we’ve given them an opportunity to do the right thing and resolve the case, but the ball is wholly in their courts.”