Federal Lawsuit: Lake Stevens Concedes Negligence in Fatal Officer-Involved Shooting, Shifts Blame to State Mental Health Failures

J425 is first to report federal civil rights suit tied to fatal 2023 LSPD shooting...Court records reveal investigators initially sought a Murder 2 warrant against the officer;

J425 EXCLUSIVE — The City of Lake Stevens and an individual Lake Stevens police officer are named defendants in a developing federal civil rights lawsuit brought by the family of a man shot to death in a 2023 encounter with Lake Stevens police.

Several surprises tied to this story, but we’ll lede with the shocker that the City of Lake Stevens is officially admitting fault in federal court for the fatal officer-involved-shooting, with the city deciding to cop to their supposed failure to properly train and supervise the officer who pulled the trigger.

The federal civil rights lawsuit was filed by the family of the disturbed car-jacker who tore through Lake Stevens area on a GTA-like rampage in January, 2023.

The berserker careened from Frontier Village to the intersection of 20th and SR-9, bailed on foot and ultimately leading cops on a cross country chase before getting shot to death after jumping in an unlocked LSPD cruiser and attempting to drive off. The suit alleged wrongful death and negligence, among other claims, and initially, the city denied fault.

However, in an amended response filed earlier this year, the city formally accepted fault, admitting that failures in training and supervision contributed to the 2023 fatal shooting of 30-year-old James Blancocotto.

The admission, contained in a January 2026 legal filing, marks a total departure from the city’s previous defense.

It also coincides with a blistering state audit that found the independent investigation into the shooting was plagued by procedural failures and a lack of transparency.

By admitting fault, the city appears to be executing a sophisticated legal pivot: acknowledging…