VISTA -- The family of a parolee who was fatally shot by sheriff's deputies in a Vista mobile-home park in 2006 has filed a federal wrongful death lawsuit against the city and county.

The complaint was filed with the U.S. District Court in October, but it was only recently served on the agencies, officials said Thursday.

The plaintiffs -- the daughter, father, brother and sisters of David Arnulfo Lopez -- are seeking unspecified damages.

City Attorney Darold Pieper said the county would defend Vista in the action. David Axtmann, a senior deputy county counsel, declined to comment.

The complaint alleges that sheriff's deputies were negligent and used excessive force on Oct. 21, 2006, when they shot Lopez, 27, multiple times.

"The shooting of an unarmed, cornered man, posing no risk of harm to persons or property is objectively unreasonable," the complaint states.

On the night in question, three deputies were at the Vista Terraces Mobile Home Park because of a report that Lopez was threatening his family with a knife, authorities said after the shooting.

Lopez was shot when he charged the deputies and reached into his waistband, authorities said.

No weapon was found on Lopez's body, but a small knife was found about 20 feet away, authorities said.

The lawsuit alleges that Lopez posed no threat, but when he emerged from a trailer bullets hit him in the "thorax, back, buttocks, shoulder and thigh."

Lopez had been in trouble with the law before, according to court records.

Just weeks before his death, he was released from prison when he had been incarcerated for battery on a police officer and violating his parole.

The San Diego County district attorney's office, which reviews all officer-involved shootings, is still evaluating Lopez's shooting.

For Vista, a city that is 42 percent Latino, the incident was a gritty reminder of the summer of 2005 when three Latino men were fatally shot by sheriff's deputies in separate incidents over five days. The shooting angered many in the Latino community and sparked allegations of racism in the Sheriff's Department.

The district attorney's office later concluded that the 2005 shootings were justified.

The Lopez family's complaint alleges that the city and county "maintained a custom, policy or practice of using excessive force against Hispanic males in an effort to intimidate Hispanic males."

Contact staff writer Craig TenBroeck at (760) 901-4062 or ctenbroeck@nctimes.com.