Shooting victim slaps police with $10 million lawsuit
By JOHN SCHRIFFEN
EDT, Sat, Jun 19, 2010
The Fairfax County Police Department is facing a
multimillion-dollar lawsuit for an employee's alleged refusal to protect and
serve.
“You can see how the bullet got stopped by the cross,” said
shooting victim Najib Gerdak.
It was a necklace that saved the life of the 28-year-old.
While he’s thankful to be alive, Gerdak said he still lives with the pain and
visible wounds from being shot five times.
“As soon as I open my eyes I feel the pain,” Gerdak said. “You know, you
get ready to go to work, you look at your body in the mirror, sliced from here
to here. I have holes everywhere.”
The painful injuries could have been prevented if Fairfax
County police responded to his cries for help, he says. On Feb. 2, 2008, Gerdak
ran into the Franconia police sub-station at about 3 a.m. after witnessing a road
rage incident. But when he got inside, Gerdak says, he found an employee asleep
behind the glass.
“I had to knock twice because I didn’t catch her attention
because she was asleep,” Gerdak said. “I said, 'There’s two crazy people
outside. Some guy is chasing a taxi driver,' and she said the cab driver needs
to call his own dispatch.”
Gerdak says he was turned away, and when he went back
outside into the parking lot, one of those drivers involved in that road rage
incident opened fire.
“I just felt an impact in my shoulder and I heard a gun
blast and I knew I’d been shot,” Gerdak said. “I felt my hand turn to fire. One
second it was hot and then everything just started spinning.”
Now, more than two years later, Gerdak said he still has two
bullets inside his body. One is lodged near his groin, and Gerdak has decided
not to get the surgery to remove it because it’s so risky he could lose the
ability to have children. He’s decided to file a $10 million lawsuit against
the Fairfax County Police Department and that employee on duty that night.
“You’re supposed to run into a police station, and they’re
supposed to help you,” Gerdak said. "If they can’t help you, then what?
Are we all supposed to carry around guns now? I feel like nobody’s protected.”
To this day, Gerdak said he does not know why he was shot,
but he’s hoping this lawsuit will prevent this terrible incident from happening
to anyone ever again.
Fairfax County Police would not comment on the lawsuit
because it's ongoing litigation.