The widow of a Vancouver police officer who was shot and killed while off-duty by a Clark County sheriff’s deputy filed a lawsuit in federal court last month against the county and the deputy, alleging negligence and the use of excessive force.
Deputy Jonathan Feller fired at Officer Donald Sahota on Jan. 29, 2022, soon after responding to Sahota’s Battle Ground home where an armed robbery suspect had fled. Feller said he mistook Sahota for the robbery suspect and fired at him four times with a semi-automatic rifle, striking him in the back. He fired within four seconds of arriving at the residence.
In the suit, Dawnese Sahota alleges Feller failed to identify her husband or identify the suspect, did not properly assess the situation, did not follow directives, did not identify himself as a law enforcement officer and did not give a warning before shooting. She also alleges the county sheriff’s office failed to properly train Feller, and county officials were indifferent in signing off on Feller’s actions.
“Officer Donald Sahota lost his life due to the negligence of a Clark County employee,” said attorney Mark Lindquist, who is representing Dawnese Sahota. “We are confident the county will accept responsibility and do right by Officer Sahota’s family.”
According to the suit, then-Clark County Sheriff Chuck Atkins did not discipline Feller for the shooting. The suit, filed Jan. 22 in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Washington, seeks unspecified damages determined through a trial.
An attorney representing the county and the deputy did not respond to a request for comment.
The incident began when sheriff’s deputies responded to an armed robbery at a Chevron gas station in the Orchards area of Vancouver. The suspect – later identified as 23-year-old Julio Cesar Segura, fled in a stolen Mercedes toward Battle Ground. Segura, then 20, ditched the car near Sahota’s home after deputies flattened the tires with spike strips.
Dawnese Sahota then called 911 and reported a suspicious person outside the home. Donald Sahota went to check what Segura was doing, and a struggle ensued between the two men in the driveway. Segura reportedly knocked Sahota’s handgun to the ground and stabbed him three times.
According to the suit, Segura broke away from Donald Sahota and ran toward the front door. Sahota was chasing him when Feller, the first responding officer on the scene, shot Sahota.
In an interview with investigators, Feller said the situation was “very fluid, very fast” and said he spotted a man reaching for a gun before trying to get inside the home. He told the man to get on the ground.
The suit alleges that Feller relied on guesswork when deciding to shoot someone and said his rifle’s optic was set for daytime mode while patrolling at night, which could have obscured his vision.
“The actions of Defendant Feller…were excessive, unreasonable, negligent, dangerous violations of generally accepted police standards,” the suit says.
Feller did not face criminal charges in the fatal shooting. The decision from the county’s top prosecutor came after a panel of five Washington prosecuting attorneys failed to reach a consensus on whether Feller’s actions were reasonable under the circumstances.
Segura remains in the Washington State Penitentiary after he was sentenced in June to 29 years in prison for Sahota’s death. He was convicted of first-degree murder, second-degree murder, robbery, possession of a stolen vehicle and eluding police.
Feller was among three Clark County deputies who shot and killed 21-year-old Kevin E. Peterson Jr., amid a drug investigation in 2020. In October, Clark County agreed to pay a $1.25 million settlement to Peterson’s family.
The suit refers to the 2020 shooting and alleges the county’s lack of corrective action led Feller to again make a similar mistake in using deadly force.
“Officer Sahota would likely be alive but for Clark County’s failure to discipline or retrain Feller after the previous shooting,” the suit said.
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