For more than 30 years, Carlos Pena has owned and operated his dream
business, working hard to make a living while doing work he enjoys.
Carlos designs and prints, signs, banners, shirts, hats, and stickers for
people, businesses, and organizations all over the Los Angeles area.
Carlos thought that one day he would hand his business over to his son.
I like it cuz it's very creative and when you see the end results, it's.
I feel good about it.
Like when I see signs out there on the streets that I've done, you know,
I even tell my wife, Hey, I did that.
But on August 3rd, 2022, Carlos's Dream became a nightmare.
While doing work at his shop, Carlos heard helicopters flying overhead and commotion
coming from in front of the store.
So Carlos went out to see what was happening.
Then suddenly I, I know that a, a guy comes out and he rushes me,
and then as I move, he hits me.
Then I fell to the outside of the shop and he goes inside and
barricaded himself inside the shop, and that's where everything started.
The man who shoved Carlos and barricaded himself inside his shop was
a fugitive running from the US Marshal.
A standoff ensued, and the Marshalls called in a SWAT team from the
Los Angeles Police Department.
At this point.
Carlos's problems got even worse in their effort to go up and bring the
guy down that had barricaded himself inside the ceiling, up in the ceiling.
They just kicked doors.
They, I mean, they stood up on printers and everything, so, They fired about 32
rounds of tear gas for one guy, one guy.
Carlos waited at a nearby store for more than 12 hours as the chaos unfolded
when he was finally allowed to return to his shop a couple days later.
The damage was breathtaking and somehow the fugitive still managed to escape
most of what got damaged, especially my inventory was due to the tear gas.
The tear gas messed up all my.
Clothing, my toners, the damage, I figure it was about 62 to
$63,000 worth of equipment.
Carlos knows the police were trying to do their jobs as they
saw fit, but he shouldn't have to pay for their determination
of how to capture the fugitive.
Carlos's insurance, as is common, didn't cover damage caused by the government.
Carlos had hoped that he could repair his shop after receiving compensation
from the city of Los Angeles.
But the city refused to pay.
Now more than 10 months later, he's trying to keep his business afloat by operating
out of his garage with just one printer, but his revenue has dropped substantially.
When all the damage, uh, took place, it broke me.
Not just economically, but mentally.
Why do I have to lose my business due to something like this?
Sometimes it feels like certain laws work against good citizens.
Pursuing a fugitive is a legitimate function of the government,
and sometimes innocent people's property will unfortunately
get destroyed in that process.
But when that happens, the government must pay for the damage it causes.
After all, the Fifth Amendment guarantees that the government
cannot take private property for a public use without just compensation.
That's why Carlos and IJ have filed a lawsuit against the city
seeking compensation for the damage.
I'm teaming up with the Institute for Justice because
what happened to me isn't right.
Um, I wouldn't like anybody else to keep losing everything they
have worked for all their lives.