Pocatello approves $4.5 million settlement of lawsuit over death of Victor Perez

POCATELLO – The Gate City has settled a lawsuit that was brought forward over the apparent wrongful death of 17-year-old Victor Perez, who was shot and killed by police officers during a domestic call.

On Thursday evening, the Pocatello City Council voted unanimously to approve a settlement agreement with the family of Victor Perez, who died in April 2025, a week after he was shot twelve times by Pocatello police officers. This agreement requires the city to pay $4.5 million to the plaintiffs, resolving the lawsuit launched a year and a half ago.

RELATED | Victor Perez family’s attorney says ‘litigation is going to start in earnest’

Jennifer Call, of Snake River Criminal Defense, PLLC, who served as local counsel on the case, explained to EastIdahoNews.com after the meeting why they couldn’t make further public statements about the settlement. She explained that the court had put a “gag order” on the case, meaning they couldn’t discuss it publicly, which she said is typical with high-profile cases like this.

“The paperwork will get done soon, and that order will be lifted, and I’m looking forward to it,” Call said.

And while none of the council members voted against the agreement, two voiced their disagreement with “how the city has handled this matter publicly.”

“I’m not alleging tonight that the city has violated the law. My concern is that on an issue this important, satisfying the minimum legal requirements cannot be the standard we set for ourselves,” Council member Dakota Bates said.

RELATED | Officers who shot and killed autistic teenager Victor Perez will not face criminal charges

Background

On April 5, four Pocatello Police officers responded to a 911 call reporting a disturbance on North Harrison Avenue, near downtown Pocatello. When officers arrived, they found Perez lying on the ground in his grandfather Luis Alicea’s fenced backyard while holding a kitchen knife.

The emergency call reported a disturbance, where Perez’s family members were struggling with him while he was holding the kitchen knife.

Officers called for Perez to drop the knife, while aiming their weapons at him, and then discharged them when he approached them, with the entire interaction lasting less than 20 seconds from the time officers exited their vehicles.

RELATED | Pocatello releases video with bodycam and security footage of Victor Perez shooting

Three of the officers fired live rounds at Perez while one fired a beanbag round from a shotgun. A letter from the Attorney General’s Office states that the autopsy report found 12 gunshot wounds on Perez.

Perez has been described as being autistic and having several other developmental disabilities, including cerebral palsy. After receiving multiple surgeries and having his leg amputated, Perez was taken off life support a week after the shooting when doctors found him to be clinically brain-dead.

In September 2025, The Idaho Attorney General’s Office found the officers were not criminally responsible for the death.

RELATED | Pocatello community gathers to honor Victor Perez and protest police action towards him

The agreement

In the lawsuit’s complaint, it says the Pocatello Police Department caused Perez’s death, which was caused by “excessive and unjustified use of deadly force,” and that he “endured conscious pain and suffering prior to his death.”

“No de-escalation methods were attempted. Perez possessed a knife at the time of the incident. However, Mr. Perez was located behind a chain-link fence. He posed no threat to the officer to warrant the level of force used,” reads the complaint.

After litigation progressed over the last year and a half, the parties reached a $4.5 million settlement, to be split in multiple ways among the parties.

If the settlement is completely finalized, a total of $1.67 million of this would go towards attorney fees. Alicea would receive a net settlement of $1.6 million, Wanda Alicea, Perez’s mother, would receive $532,099, and Perez’s sister, who was a minor at the time of the incident, would receive $667,099.

In the document, it explains that the attorneys’ fees are reasonable, reflecting the terms of the retainer agreements signed by Alicea, Wanda and Perez’s sister.

“These retainer fee rates are well within the generally-accepted range in complex Federal Civil Rights lawsuits where allegations of excessive force against police officers are subject to strict Qualified Immunity standards imposed by the United States Supreme Court and where the litigations risks are high. The contingency fee for minors is significantly less than those of adults due to state law restrictions on contingency fee rates for minors,” the document says.

The council meeting

Voting on whether to sign this agreement was marked on the city council’s agenda as “Resolution of Pending Litigation.” Earlier in the day on Thursday, a city official confirmed for EastIdahoNews.com that this agenda item was in relation to the lawsuit over the death of Victor Perez.

Before a motion was made for the vote to be taken, Bates read a prepared statement in which he expressed concern that the city was not being transparent about the resolution of the lawsuit.

“Our agenda asks us to resolve pending litigation without even identifying the Perez case by name, and an issue of enormous public importance has been placed near the end of a very lengthy agenda. Each of those decisions may have an explanation. Taken together, however, I do not believe they reflect the level of transparency and accountability that this moment deserves,” Bates said.

After Bates’ statement concluded, Council member Ann Swanson concurred with him.

After the meeting concluded, Mayor Mark Dahlquist addressed these points, explaining why the agenda item was presented as it was. Dahlquist said that while they’ve now authorized the settlement agreement, there are still more steps to take before the lawsuit is completely resolved.

“Myself and the city of Pocatello, we do want to make comments and we do want to be open about this. But I hope it can be appreciated that although the council did sign off and provide authorization for payment, this is technically not 100% settled yet,” Dahlquist said.

Dahlquist declined to comment on how much of the settlement was being covered by the city’s insurer, or how much in funds the council had authorized.

Dahlquist expects the lawsuit to be fully settled “probably” by sometime next week, “and at that time we will be issuing a statement and discussing more.”

At the end of his statement, Bates offered words for the Perez family, and “everyone who has been affected by what happened.”

“There is no action this council can take that erases the loss or the pain involved for all those affected by it. I hope tonight’s action can begin to bring some measure of healing and closure to the Perez family and to our community,” Bates said.