ROSESVILLE — A California Highway Patrol trooper arrested last week on suspicion of workers’ compensation fraud is accused of being the commander of a deadly Mahaney Park shootout in Roseville in April 2023. Three officers who worked for him during the war confirmed this to CBS Sacramento. The names of the three officers are withheld because they are not authorized to speak on the record.
That captain, identified as Matthew Stover, a 22-year CHP veteran, approved the decision to serve a high-risk search warrant on armed suspect Eric Abril at a crowded park during spring break. said the source. The plan resulted in a deadly shootout that left a police officer injured and James McKeegan, who was taken hostage by the suspects along with his wife, dead.
A judge on Tuesday ruled that Patty McKegan’s wrongful death lawsuit against the California Highway Patrol in the hostage situation in which her husband was killed can proceed. The judge’s ruling came after the CHP and Attorney General Rob Bonta’s office tried to have the case thrown out.
In other words, state law says law enforcement is not liable if someone is injured by a suspect who resists arrest.
However, the CHP had not issued an arrest warrant that day, and Abril was not arrested. They had obtained search warrants for his car and home, but instead chose to confront him in a crowded park.
After the shooting, Stover was removed from his position and subsequently placed on workers’ compensation. Then, last week, he was arrested on suspicion of workers’ compensation insurance fraud and booked into the Sacramento County Jail.
CHP said it could not comment because the lawsuit is ongoing.
As first reported by CBS13 and the judge noted, it is not yet known who fired the shot that killed McEagan. The judge then ruled that the CHP had no immunity because Mr. Abril was not arrested and may not have fired the fatal shot.
The CHP has also granted several other immunity judgments, which the judge also denied, but which can be retried on summary judgment.
