In the lawsuit, Dawnese Sahota claims that Clark County failed to properly train Deputy Jonathan Feller and that the deputy ‘acted rashly and negligently’ when he shot Sahota

Ken Vance, editor
Clark County Today

The widow of fallen Vancouver Police Officer Donald Sahota has filed a federal civil rights and wrongful death lawsuit against Clark County and Clark County Sheriff’s Office Deputy Jonathan Feller. Sahota was shot and killed in 2022 by Feller, who was pursuing a robbery suspect who had arrived at Sahota’s home while attempting to elude pursuing officers.

In the lawsuit, reported first by The Seattle Times, Dawnese Sahota claims that Clark County failed to properly train Feller and that the deputy “acted rashly and negligently’’ when he shot Sahota after arriving at the residence four seconds earlier.

Dawnese Sahota is represented by Vancouver Attorney Angus Lee, who provided a statement to Clark County Today Tuesday.

“Officer Donald Sahota lost his life due to the negligence of a Clark County employee. We are confident the county will accept responsibility and do right by Officer Sahota’s family,’’ Lee stated. “We do not have anything further to add at this time and the family will not be commenting.”

On May 24, 2024 a Clark County jury found a Yakima man guilty in the Jan. 29, 2022 death of Officer Sahota. The jurors in Clark County Superior Court found 22-year-old Julio Segura guilty of causing Sahota’s death. The jury acquitted Segura of an additional premeditated murder charge. On June 27, Segura was sentenced by a Clark County Judge Nancy Retsinas to 29 years in prison.

Officer Sahota was 52 years old at the time of his death. He was hired by the Vancouver Police Department in April 2014 and prior to that, he worked as a police officer for the Gresham Police Department and Port of Portland Police Department. During his career with the Vancouver Police Department, Officer Sahota worked in patrol, served as an EVOC instructor, an armorer, and was also assigned to the Training Unit. Officer Sahota was survived by a wife and two children.

According to information previously provided by the Clark County Sheriff’s Office, officers responded to an armed robbery at a convenience store in the Orchards area the night Sahota was killed.  The suspect was described as having a handgun and fled the area in a stolen vehicle.  

The suspect, Segura, was located a short time later and a pursuit of the vehicle was initiated based on the armed robbery.  Segura traveled towards Battle Ground where he eventually abandoned the vehicle and fled on foot.  Segura later arrived at the residence of Sahota, who was off duty at the time.  

Police responded and contacted all parties.  In the course of this contact, Deputy Feller discharged his firearm, mistakenly striking Sahota. Sahota, who had fought with Segura prior to being shot, was provided medical aid at the scene but was eventually pronounced deceased.

The officer-involved shooting was investigated by the Lower Columbia Major Crimes Team. The Clark County Sheriff’s Office deputy was not charged by the Clark County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office in the shooting.

“At the time Defendant Feller fired his rifle, he had failed to identify Officer Sahota, failed to identify the suspect, failed to assess the situation … failed to identify himself as a law enforcement officer, failed to give proper warning before shooting, and failed to properly apply accepted standards for use of deadly force,” the lawsuit alleges, according to The Seattle Times. “No reasonable officer would stop his SUV and within four seconds fire his rifle at the back of an unknown person who presented no immediate or identifiable threat.”