A man who watched his friend die in a motorcycle crash and was arrested for interfering with rescue efforts now plans to sue the San Diego County Sheriff’s Department.
After the department rejected his claim, Jon Regenhardt told NBC 7 Tuesday he will file a lawsuit against the agency through his attorney, Steve Estey, hoping to get the deputy who arrested him fired.
His reasons date back to Oct. 5, 2014, when his best friend, 25-year-old Navid Zamani, was fatally wounded in a motorcycle crash on State Route 94 in Dulzura when he collided with a pickup truck.
“I lost my heart. I lost my soul. I lost my best friend,” said Regenhardt.
Zamani died at the scene from his injuries. The driver of the truck was not injured.
Regenhardt was riding ahead of Zamani and immediately rushed to his aid after the crash.
“I knew right away, I just had to do everything I could to know that I tried and know that I didn’t fail trying,” he said.
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He tried comforting Zamani in his final moments by rubbing his leg and staying close to his friend, Regenhardt told NBC 7.
But according to an arrest report, Regenhardt was interfering with EMTs and paramedics’ rescue efforts. The report claims that Regenhardt bumped into EMT firefighters that were trying to resuscitate Zamani.
It also states that when officers tried to make him leave the area, Regenhardt became actively resistant and refused commands to step back from the victim.
Photos taken at the time show a struggle between Regenhardt and deputies. He was eventually handcuffed and cited for interfering.
“What we have here is a total lack of compassion. Jon was there comforting his dying friend and it really didn’t need to lead to what the sheriff did,” said Regenhardt’s attorney Estey.
The original charges against Regenhardt have been dropped, but he wants to move forward with his lawsuit, filing it within the next two months. According to Estey, their goal is for the sheriff to look at the case and order additional training for deputies.
Regenhardt said he’s determined to take get some kind of result from his legal efforts. He hopes the officer who dealt with him on Oct. 5 loses his badge.
“I’m alive so I can pursue this. The next person won’t be able to, and he’s going to get away with killing someone on the next one,” Regenhardt said.
NBC 7 reached out to the sheriff’s department and the county for a comment on this story. They cannot comment on pending litigation, but a spokesperson pointed out that the claim filed against them was rejected, and no official lawsuit has been filed yet.
