Lance Hayden
Posted on 01/27/2009 9:24:47 AM PST by BGHater
A former Lodi Police officer who shot himself in the hand in March will receive $100,000 in a workers' compensation payment from the city.
Sgt. Lance Hayden accidentally shot himself while he was alone at a shooting range in the basement of the former police station at 210 W. Elm St. He will not be able to return to duty.
The Lodi City Council approved the settlement in a 4-1 vote Wednesday night in closed session. Councilwoman Susan Hitchcock was the dissenting vote.
The money for the payment will come out of the city's Workers' Compensation Insurance fund, city spokesman Jeff Hood said. As of Nov 30, the fund had a balance of $4.8 million.
The California Public Employees' Retirement System will determine his pension, and a CALPERS spokesman said it is not yet clear how much he will receive.
City attorney Steve Schwabauer said he could not comment on the specifics of the settlement because it is not public. It still has to go to the Workmens' Compensation State Appeals Board for approval.
Generally, the amount for workers' compensation payouts is determined by a state doctor who estimates the cost of future medical bills due to the injury, Schwabauer said.
He added that if an employee receives a settlement, the city does not have to pay for any future medical expenses. Also, if the medical care costs less than the settlement, the employee does not have to return it.
Hitchcock did not want to approve the settlement because she believes if a worker has unexpected medical expenses related to the injury, the city should be responsible for it.
Hayden started work with the department in 1987, when he went undercover for the department's program to combat drug use in high schools. The program resulted in numerous arrests.
He was one of the original members of the department's Gang Enforcement Unit and was on the SWAT team. He also received numerous awards for his work with police dogs.
I suspect this will become a trend as more and more LEO’s are facing layoffs this year.
Wonder how much capping your foot will bring?
“Oh, Lord.....”
I know exactly one person who shot himself in the hand (with a pellet gun). It was no accident. It was an act of positively outrageous, braindead, mindless, drooling stupidity.
This is news because? How many employees get worker’s comp because of a back strain, a car accident, a slip and fall? An accident with a firearm should not make that special.
At least, he hit something.
And the taxpayer gets to pay for his senior moment....
Could be. I wonder how many will get their settlements, etc. from various governmnts and then go sue Glock. I personally don’t like and wouldn’t own a Glock, but don’t think they should be liable for “user stupidity”.
This is why only trained police officers and military should be able to have guns. The rest of us aren’t safe or competant enough.
Shot in Lodi again ...
The days of Barnie Fife are over.
Another way is to cover the ejection port with the weak hand to catch the loaded round when unloading your gun. It is possible to knock the round off the extractor and as the slide moves to the rear, the primer hits the ejector and the round explodes into your hand.
If this happens you end up with brass fragments in the palm of your hand where the tendons are. It's possible to lose much/all mobility of your fingers this way.
I bet he has a lot of pictures with his thumb on the camera lens.
When we shoot IPDA stages with doorways, we try to design the stage to avoid sweeping the weak hand, on the doorknob, with the gun.
FWIW, back in November, I nearly shot my thumb off..
..with a crossbow. After a pistol match some buddies wanted me to try their crossbow. I had my thumb in the wrong place and the bowstring took most of the tip off.
3 years in the Army, thousands of rounds of ammo, both small arms and 90 and 105 mm tank HE, SHOT and HEP expended. Not one firearm related accident even though it was when the draft was in effect and I was surrounded by brain dead idiots of every type and form you could imagine. How in the he** could this guy shoot himself in the hand accidentally?
The ol’ Beretta trick?
I’ll bet this guy will soon be back working for the city, if not the police department itself, in another position and on the road to eventually collecting two public pensions in addition to being rewarded with 100 grand for his own negligence.
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