The family of Matthew Cline, a 17-year-old high school football player who committed suicide July 17, has dropped its lawsuit against Huntington Beach and the Police Department.
The suit accused the department of neglecting to contact the family about Cline’s suicide threat the night before his death.
Cline’s mother, Kathy Cline, acknowledged that police, by law, are not obligated to respond to calls for service, and said the process of the lawsuit was causing the family great distress.
“Our family has been through exceedingly great pain and daily anguish since the passing of our son,” Kathy Cline said via email. “We know that our complaint against the city of Huntington Beach will not bring him back, nor will the proceedings or outcome ease our pain or lesson our sorrow. It will only exasperate it.”
Even though the lawsuit is dropped, Kathy Cline still had critical words for the department.
“I find it repugnant that the police will dispatch two units to my neighbor’s home after a false ‘house alarm,’ but defends itself from sending a unit to my home after they learned a minor’s life was at stake,” Kathy Cline said Sunday. “They had 20 hours to do it. Shame on them.”
Police were alerted that Matthew Cline was threatening suicide July 16, and police documents state that officers located two different Matthew Clines on Facebook and attempted to contact the Clines by telephone, but the family said they received no calls. Police had the Clines’ home address from a police database, but did not send an officer. Twenty hours later, Matthew Cline shot and killed himself with the family’s gun.
Huntington Beach Police Department spokesman Mitchell O’Brien said Monday that the department would be willing to speak with the Cline family now that the lawsuit has been dropped.
“As a father of teenagers, I can’t imagine the pain they must be feeling,” O’Brien said via email. “The department as a whole is saddened by the loss of Matthew and our hearts go out to his family and friends. We understand their frustration surrounding that tragic night and are willing and now able to speak to them personally if they desire.”
Comments are closed.