Man shot 5 times by HCSO deputy in 'friendly fire' incident in 2018 settles for $1.5M lawsuit

HOUSTON, Texas (KTRK) -- Harris County Commissioner's Court has approved a $1.5 million settlement to be paid by a man shot five times by "friendly fire."

On Jan. 31, 2018, deputies arrived at Joshua Coucke's home to arrest his roommate. It ended with Deputy Juan Lerma shooting Coucke five times; once in the back, abdomen, leg, right hand, and right elbow. He still does not have all his strength back in his right arm. Lerma also shot his partner, Patrick Mirrielees, twice.

"I never thought I'd get shot by the police ever. I'm a pretty boring guy," Coucke told ABC13 in an exclusive interview in 2018.

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Coucke filed a lawsuit against Harris County in 2020 alleging civil rights violations.

This week, the commissioner's court approved to settle the lawsuit for $1.5 million.

"We felt this was in the best interest of the client," Andrew Lemanski, Coucke's attorney, said. "When people are the victims of civil rights violations, there's truly a loss that we should help rebuild."

A grand jury did not indict Lerman and ABC13 confirmed he still works for Harris County Sheriff's Office.

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