Written by On September 30, 2023, Deputy Michael Smith was involved in a fatal shooting incident where he shot and killed 18-year-old Isaac Ocegueda, an unarmed driver, and injured passenger Yuleni Zavala. The incident occurred after a suspect, Jose M. Corral-Zavala, engaged in a shootout with deputies and fled into a minivan driven by Ocegueda. A lawsuit filed on January 18, 2024, alleges that Deputy Smith used excessive force and that Polk County failed to properly train him in the use of deadly force. The lawsuit seeks up to $28.5 million in damages. Additionally, a county investigation found that Deputy Smith ‘responds emotionally to confrontation, rather than implementing cognitive thinking and errs in judgment by not slowing things down once situations have escalated.’ The grand jury, however, unanimously found that Deputy Smith was justified in the shooting.
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– [Deputy Michael Smith](https://watchaudits.com/forums/topic/deputy-michael-smith/)