{"id":6099,"date":"2026-08-04T06:36:42","date_gmt":"2026-08-04T06:36:42","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/metrotransitreview.com\/?p=6099"},"modified":"2026-08-04T06:36:42","modified_gmt":"2026-08-04T06:36:42","slug":"nancy-guthrie-sheriff-hit-with-176-million-lawsuit-alleging-dangerous-incompetence","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/metrotransitreview.com\/?p=6099","title":{"rendered":"Nancy Guthrie sheriff hit with $176 million lawsuit alleging dangerous incompetence"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

Sheriff Chris Nanos, the embattled lawman leading the Nancy Guthrie investigation, has a new $176 million problem. <\/p>\n

Read more It\u2019s time for the Saudis to put up \u2014 or shut up on Iran<\/a><\/p>\n

Axeel Melendez, 24, is suing Nanos and the Pima County, Arizona, sheriff\u2019s department after deputies shot and paralyzed him while responding to a phony \u201cswatting\u201d call \u2014 the second major lawsuit against the department in two weeks. <\/p>\n

The shooting happened even though Melendez warned the sheriff\u2019s department that he was being targeted for swatting \u2014 and even though he posed no threat at the time, his lawyer said.<\/p>\n

Someone impersonating Melendez called the sheriff\u2019s department at around 6 a.m., stating that his father had shot his sister. Deputies then smashed his bedroom window with a shovel and climbed inside, guns drawn, according to the docs. <\/p>\n

Melendez heard a commotion outside, woke his mom up and told her to hide, then cowered behind a door with the family\u2019s legally-registered firearm. Officers fired seven shots through the door, hitting him in the leg and spine, the legal notice said.<\/p>\n

Melendez was already on edge before the raid: He had been menaced by an online hacker who threatened to call in a bogus bomb threat at his house, said his attorney Dev Sethi.<\/p>\n

Melendez called 911, but the operator allegedly told him not to worry.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe dispatcher told Melendez, \u2018They can\u2019t just call SWAT on you. That\u2019s not how it works.\u2019 And assured him that \u2026 \u2018nothing\u2019s going to happen,’\u201d Sethi said in a statement.<\/p>\n

The sheriff\u2019s department then received a suspicious call to Melendez\u2019s house, which they determined to be fake. Officers alerted Melendez and assured him that \u201che should be alright,\u201d promising to warn him if they received any more calls to the address, according to an incident report obtained by his lawyer.<\/p>\n

Less than 48 hours later, another swatting call came in \u2014 and that one ended with deputies opening fire and paralyzing Melendez.<\/p>\n

Read more Saudis gravitate toward Middle East basket cases when it should join US\u2019 fight against Iran<\/a><\/p>\n

Sheriff Nanos is already facing another multi-million-dollar lawsuit over his allegedly botched investigation into the disappearance of 84-year-old Nancy Guthrie.<\/p>\n

Carlos Palazuelos and two family members plan to sue the Department for $3 million after deputies arrested him and raided his house in the days after the mother of \u201cToday\u201d show host Savannah Guthrie vanished in February.<\/p>\n

A notice of claim says deputies drew their guns on Palazuelos, took him into custody and kept him for seven to eight hours before releasing him without charges in the town of Rio Rico, about an hour south of Tucson.<\/p>\n

\n<\/div>\n

Palazuelos is seeking $2.5 million, while relatives Daniel Maddox and Josefina Maddox are seeking $500,000 and $250,000, respectively, after deputies executed a search warrant to their home, held them for questioning, and allegedly damaged their property.<\/p>\n

Palazuelos also targets Nanos for allegedly refusing to clear his name after the sheriff described him as a \u201cperson of interest\u201d to reporters last week.<\/p>\n

The Pima County Sheriff\u2019s department declined to comment, stating that they do not discuss pending litigation.<\/p>\n

As for Melendez: \u201cAxeel is a shooting victim whose life will never be the same \u2026 He\u2019s not just looking at years of medical treatment and a mountain of hospital bills; his life has been shattered,\u201d Sethi said.<\/p>\n

Read more Hero civilian says In-N-Out shooter\u2019s \u2018bravado immediately crumbled\u2019 after he fired back<\/a><\/p>\n<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Axeel Melendez, 24, is suing Chris Nanos and the Pima County, Arizona, sheriff’s department after deputies shot and paralyzed him while responding to a phony “swatting” call \u2014 the second major lawsuit against the department in two weeks. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":6098,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-6099","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-us-news"],"yoast_head":"\nNancy Guthrie sheriff hit with $176 million lawsuit alleging dangerous incompetence - Metro Transit Review<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/metrotransitreview.com\/?p=6099\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Nancy Guthrie sheriff hit with $176 million lawsuit alleging dangerous incompetence - 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