(CN) – An Amador County man claims in a lawsuit filed Wednesday that the California Highway Patrol failed to warn him that they rearmed an officer who wanted to kill him for being in a relationship with the officer’s estranged wife.
The department’s negligence also led to a 2018 incident in which the officer killed himself after murdering his wife, according to the suit.
Philip Debeaubien said in his 17-page complaint that he had been in a romantic relationship with Mary Wheat, the estranged wife of former CHP officer Brad Wheat, and was living with her in a Garden Valley, California, home in 2018.
Wheat became aware of his wife’s relationship with Debeaubien around July 2018 and began stalking the pair, according to the complaint, which was filed Wednesday in Sacramento Superior Court.
The officer allegedly used his CHP credentials to scan law enforcement databases for information that would lead him to Debeaubien, who claims in his complaint that Wheat’s fellow officers assisted him in the stalking activities.
In an Aug. 2, 2018 incident, Wheat stormed into a Garden Valley, California, home owned by his wife’s father and called her “whore.”
Debeaubien and Mary moved out of the house after the incident and relocated temporarily to a friend’s home in Sutter Creek, bubt Wheat somehow found them later that month and broke two windows of the home, according to the complaint.
On September 1, 2018, Wheat allegedly returned and broke all of the windows of the Sutter Creek home.
Debeaubien reported the incidents to local police and named Wheat as the “likely perpetrator.” Wheat was allowed to operate as a CHP officer despite being named in police reports, the complaint states.
During an August 4 assessment, the CHP, which oversees law enforcement on the state’s highways, found Wheat unfit for duty and removed his department-issued pistol and ammunition.
Wheat had revealed to a department psychologist that he had “uncontrolled anger” towards his wife and Debeaubien, according to the complaint.
Debeaubien said in his complaint that the department failed to issue him a Tarasoff warning, which is the practice of police agencies warning potential victims of violence.
In early September 2018, after the Garden Valley and Sutter Creek incidents, the department “inexplicably” reissued Wheat his weapon.
Debeaubien claims that the department “failed to properly asses Wheat’s fitness for duty and/or mental capacity.”
On September 3, Debeaubien went with Mary to the gym where he worked as a fitness trainer.
Wheat showed up.
Debeaubien describes in his complaint how he ended up shot, and Mary ended up dead.
The officer, who was off-duty, began banging on the gym’s backdoor and shouting loudly at the pair. At one point he shot out the gym’s front window with his gun.
After entering through the broken window, Wheat chased Debeaubien around the gym before shooting him in the left shoulder.
Despite being shot, Debeaubien tackled Wheat to ground, causing him to the drop gun, which was picked up by Mary.
After the tussle, Wheat escaped Debeaubien’s grasp and ran after Mary. Moments later, Debeaubien heard the gunshots that killed Mary and Wheat.
The fatal shootings were recorded by a bystander who was startled awake while sitting in a car nearby, but Debeaubien has not been allowed to see the video, according to the complaint.
Debeaubien says that CHP was aware of the underlying problems Wheat faced but chose to ignore the issues.
“Officers’ possession of firearms, combined with the knowledge that their crimes likely won’t be rigorously investigated, further serve to enable officer-involved domestic violence,” Debeaubien said in his complaint. “The CHP has inadequate policies to protect those at risk from domestic violence at the hands of their officers.”
The CHP and CHP officers Todd Brown, Reggie Whitehead and Brent Newman are named defendants in the suit.
A CHP spokesperson declined to comment, citing pending litigation.
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