Paralyzed restaurateur, fired Tacoma officer, a gun left behind: Why city will pay $15M
Tacoma has agreed to pay nearly $15 million to a restaurants owner who was paralyzed from the waist down after being shot by a man investigated days earlier for a separate shooting but allowed by police to retain a gun, the victim’s attorney said.
The City Council approved a $14.9 million settlement Tuesday evening to Jay Barbour, who owns Mediterranean restaurants in Tacoma and Federal Way, resolving a claim filed against the city last year after Barbour was shot in a road-rage incident in June 2022, according to attorney Mark Lindquist.
Days before the shooting in Tacoma, the suspect, Mason Taylor, was investigated by Tacoma police for an unrelated shooting at a party, according to Barbour’s claim and news reports. At that time, Taylor told police that a gun recovered by authorities belonged to his brother but he didn’t know where he was. An officer placed the weapon on a curb so that Taylor’s brother could retrieve it after police departed, the claim said.
“Officers acted unreasonably, negligently, and dangerously when they left the handgun on a curb,” the claim said, adding that Taylor was not legally authorized to possess a handgun. “Five days later, Taylor used the same gun to shoot and paralyze Jay Barbour.”
Taylor, 22, was not charged for the alleged party shooting, court records show. He pleaded guilty in May 2023 to first-degree assault in connection to the road-rage incident that left Barbour paralyzed, as part of a plea deal that dismissed a drive-by shooting charge.
He was sentenced to more than 10 years in prison, according to court records.
Meanwhile, the officer who left the gun behind was fired by the city earlier this year and an involved sergeant, who denied responsibility, was suspended for 12 days, Lindquist said in a news release Wednesday announcing the settlement.
“We are gratified by the accountability and justice,” said Lindquist, formerly the elected prosecuting attorney for Pierce County. “While nothing can fully compensate Jay and his family, the city has tried to make things right to the extent possible.”
The city and Tacoma Police Department declined to comment, citing the city’s practice of not publicly addressing settlements.
Road-rage incident
On June 23, 2022, Barbour was hauling bottles of wine and beer to his restaurant in a van and driving slowly. A Ford Explorer, later determined to have been driven by Taylor who lived in Federal Way, pulled alongside the van from behind. A passenger in the SUV and Barbour yelled at each other and the passenger flipped Barbour off, charging papers said.
Barbour was shot at twice in the intersection of Norpoint Way and 29th Street Northeast in Tacoma, and one bullet struck his spinal cord, according to charging papers. In an interview with police, Taylor denied firing the gun.
Barbour’s claim filed against the city had sought $23 million in damages, noting that the suffering for him and his family had been emotional, physical and financial since the shooting.
In the news release Wednesday, Lindquist noted that Barbour’s customers and other people expressed heartbreak to the media following the shooting, describing Barbour as “beloved” and “a one-of-a-kind guy who truly cared about his community.”
