On April 17, Real Housewives of Orange County alum Lydia McLaughlin’s older brother was riding his motorcycle in Newport Beach. According to dash cam footage, Geoffrey Shyam Stirling stopped at a red light, where a police officer was also stopped.
Even though the light remained red, Lydia’s brother decided to continue down the Pacific Coast Highway, running the light. Immediately flipping on his lights and sirens, the police officer pulled the former RHOC star’s brother over at the side of the highway.
Though he stepped off his motorcycle, Geoffrey refused to follow the officer’s instructions to sit on the curb. When he lunged for the officer, a struggle took place, and Geoffrey allegedly grabbed the officer’s taser. Sadly, the physical altercation resulted in Geoffrey’s death when the officer pulled his pistol.
RHOC star Lydia McLaughlin’s brother was shot dead by police
Following the public release of both the officer’s bodycam and the dashcam footage, Lydia’s family plans legal action. In a statement to The U.S. Sun, Lydia, her father Scott Stirling and her brother Jesse Stirling called the footage “disturbing.”
“The videos have raised serious concerns and many questions about the actions of that police officer,” the statement reads. “The family through their Attorneys plan to file a lawsuit in Federal Court to obtain full answers and seek accountability.”
The family also claimed that Lydia’s brother was “experiencing a mental health crisis” at the time of the incident. At one point in the video, he appeared to be urinating through his pants.
“Geoff was unarmed and posed no deadly threat to the officer,” the statement continues, although the Newport PD alleges he grabbed the officer’s taser and pressed it to the back of the officer’s head.
Drawing his gun, the officer demanded Geoffrey drop the taser. When he didn’t comply, the officer fired his weapon six times.
Rushed to a nearby hospital, Geoffrey passed away from his injuries. His death comes just six months after the passing of Lydia’s pot-smoking, hippie mom, Judy Stirling.
“The family remains heartbroken and devastated that Geoff was taken from them in what appears to be an unjustified use of lethal force,” the statement concludes. “Equally tragic is that there may have been other options and tactics available to the officer that he failed to utilize based on his training.”
Newport Beach Police Department is currently undergoing its own independent investigation of the incident.
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