Recently in OIS Category

POMONA -- Police shot and wounded a man late Friday, however little information about the incident was provided.
The shooting occurred about 7:45 p.m. in the 1400 block of Edgehill Drive, Los Angeles County sheriff's Sgt. Diane Hecht said in a written statement.
A person described only as a black man was wounded, and no officers were injured, Hecht said. The condition of the wounded man was not released.
The Los Angeles County Sheriff's Homicide Bureau is assisting the Pomona Police Department in the investigation and handling the release of information to the public, as is common in officer-involved shooting investigations involving police department within Los Angeles County.
Sheriff's officials released no further information about the shooting Saturday afternoon.

From reporter Dan Abendschein:

The two police officers who shot and killed 38-year-old Pasadena resident Leroy Barnes in February will not face any criminal charges from the county, officials said Wednesday.

The Los Angeles County District Attorney's Office concluded its investigation Wednesday and notified the Pasadena Police Department of that finding, writing that the officers acted in "lawful self-defense."

"This analysis must also allow for the fact that officers are often forced to make split-second judgments, about the amount of force that is necessary, in circumstances that are tense, uncertain, and rapidly evolving," said the report's conclusion. Barnes, a parolee, was shot 11 times, including seven times in the back, after officers pulled over a car driven by Emeka Edwards on Mentone Avenue on Feb. 19. Barnes was a passenger.

EL MONTE -- El Monte police officers opened fire on a man Sunday, but did not hit him, after he allegedly rammed the officers' car with his SUV, authorities said.
Sergio Farias, 29, of El Monte was booked on suspicion of domestic violence and assaulting a police officer in connection with the incident, El Monte police Lt. Chuck Carlson said.
Two officers fired several shots at him as he tried to back his SUV into their car during a chase at Cogswell and Ferris Roads, Sgt. Ken Clark of the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Homicide Bureau said.
"He intentionally tried to run them over," he said.
Officers encountered Farias driving away from his home in the 3700 of La Madera Avenue as they were responding to a report he was attacking his girlfriend about 1:40 a.m., officials said.
The officers chased Farias in his Ford SUV until he reached the intersection of Cogswell and Ferris roads, where he threw the truck into reverse and "gunned" the engine to ram the officers' car, Clark said.
The officer backed up to avoid the collision, but the SUV collided with their patrol car, he said.
The officers fired on the man, and he continued driving back to his home where he was arrested without further incident, Clark said.
His common-law wife, a 26-year-old woman, was hospitalized due to the assault and has since been released, officials said.
Following his arrest, police learned Farias was a wanted man.
He had two outstanding warrants, Clark said. One was a $1 million warrant for a narcotics offense, and the other was related to a previous domestic violence charge involving a different woman.
"It's pretty obvious that he's a violent person," Clark said.
Sheriff's officials commonly investigate officer-involved shootings for Los Angeles County police departments in order to eliminate a perceived conflict of interest, Carlson said.
"Anytime we discharge a weapon, we prefer (the investigation) be done by an outside agency," he said.
According to sheriff's booking records, Farias was being held in lieu of $2,025,000 bail. No information was available regarding his initial court appearance.

Officers shot and seriously a man who reportedly tried to run them over near the Wal-Mart in Baldwin Park, officials reported Tuesday.

UPDATED:

AZUSA -- A police officer shot and wounded a man early Saturday after the man tried to grab the officer's gun in a scuffle, authorities said.
Jesus Lopez, 19, of Azusa fled after being shot but was captured nearby following a three-hour manhunt, police and sheriff's officials said.
He was taken to a local hospital and is expected to survive, said Los Angeles County sheriff's Sgt. Rich Pena.
Authorities did not release the identity of the police officer Saturday.
The shooting occurred just before 7 a.m. in the 800 block of West Foothill Boulevard after the officer tried to pull over a possibly stolen Toyota Camry Lopez was driving, Pena said.
Officials believe Lopez pulled to the side of the road, but then got out of the car and ran from the officer, who gave chase.
Shortly after, the officer caught up with Lopez and a struggle ensued, Pena said.
"There was a fight over the officer's gun," Pena said. "The officer got control of his weapon and shot the suspect once."
After being wounded, Lopez continued fleeing and ran into an industrial area north of Foothill Boulevard, Azusa police Lt. Frank Chavez said.
Several surrounding law enforcement agencies and a SWAT team were called to help search for the suspect, Chavez said.
"(A sniper team) saw him try to make a break for it," Chavez said, and authorities arrested Lopez without further incident.
He was immediately given medical treatment.
Lopez suffered a single gunshot wound to the buttocks, Los Angeles County Fire Department officials said.
He underwent surgery Saturday afternoon and was being housed in an intensive care unit, Chavez said.
The police officer was not injured, officials said.
Lopez was in custody at the hospital and was expected to be booked upon his release, Chavez said, however it was not clear Saturday what charges would be filed against him.
Prior to the shooting, Lopez was a suspect in a felony theft case, Los Angeles County sheriff's Sgt. Diane Hecht said.
Detectives from the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Homicide Bureau are assisting in the investigation, as is customary in officer-involved shootings involving Los Angeles County police agencies.
More than a dozen police and sheriff's officials remained at the scene Saturday afternoon, and Chavez said the intensive investigation would likely continue well into the evening.
"These things go very slow," he said. "We really have to go methodically."

*PICTURED ABOVE: Police and sheriff's investigators gathered at a "command post" near the scene of the shooting.

Edi Faal, the attorney representing the family of Leroy Barnes, said he learned at a community meeting this morning that Barnes was shot seven times in the back by officers.

We are working to verify this information. Obviously the coroner's report will contain much of the needed proof.

Meanwhile, Pasadena police Chief Melekian is still scheduling a 2:30 p.m. meeting with the media to release the findings of his department's investigation into Barnes' shooting.

Melekian said the Office of Independent Review, which handles similar inquiries for the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department, will conduct its own investigation.

Pasadena police Chief Barney Melekian met over lunch Monday with me and Pasadena Star-News City Editor Hector Gonzalez.

The primary purpose of the meeting was a wide-ranging discussion of the officer involved shooting that led to the death of Leroy Barnes in Pasadena in February.

Melekian said his department's investigation had concluded the shotting was justified. He also said that the facts of the case in some way explain the two statements issued in the immediate aftermath of Barnes' death.

The Chief also said he regretted putting together a statement so early. But explained it was his way of compensating for taking 14 hours to release a statement in the wake of the last fatal Pasadena OIS.

"Fourteen hours was too long," he admitted. "Next time I'll find that golden window of opportunity between 90 minutes and 14 hours."

Melekian also lamented the decline of newspapers in America. And likened the plight of journalists and newspapers to the status of police departments and police officers 20 years ago.

"It seems like you all are talking just among yourselves," he said. Cops "used to do that. But then we learned."

The lunch took place at Japon Bistro on Colorado. Hector ordered tempura and california roll; the chief had the tempura and sushi plate. 

 

 

From the Associated Press:

OAKLAND-- Oakland police on Sunday backed off an earlier statement that a fourth officer shot Saturday had died, saying the officer was pronounced brain dead but was still on life support.
Oakland police spokesman Jeff Thomason announced the death of 41-year-old Officer John Hege earlier Sunday but later said that he was still being kept alive while a final decision was made about donating his organs.
A 26-year-old parolee wanted on a parole violation opened fire on Hege and 40-year-old Sgt. Mark Dunakin after they pulled him over Saturday afternoon, killing Dunakin, police said.
Suspect Lovelle Mixon was slain later Saturday afternoon in a gunfight with police that left two more officers dead. Thomason identified those officers as 43-year-old Sgt. Ervin Romans and 35-year-old Sgt. Daniel Sakai.
Police said never in the department's history had so many officers been killed in the line of
duty in a single day.
The violence began when Hege and Dunakin, both on motorcycles, stopped a 1995 Buick sedan in east Oakland just after 1 p.m., Thomason said. The driver opened fire, killing Dunakin and gravely wounding Hege.
The gunman then fled on foot, police said, leading to an intense manhunt by dozens of Oakland police, California Highway Patrol officers and Alameda County sheriff deputies. Streets were roped off and an entire area of east Oakland closed to traffic.
Around 3:30 p.m. officers got an anonymous tip that the gunman was inside a nearby apartment building. A SWAT team entered an apartment to clear and search it when the gunman opened fire, police said. Romans and Sakai were killed and a third officer was grazed by a bullet, police said.
Officers returned fire, killing Mixon, Acting Oakland police Chief Howard Jordan said.
"It's in these moments that words are extraordinarily inadequate," said Mayor Ron Dellums at a somber news conference announcing the slayings.
Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger ordered flags at the state capitol flown at half-staff Sunday in honor of the slain officers. Schwarzenegger arrived in Oakland on Sunday afternoon to meet with Dellums and members of the police department.
"All four officers dedicated their lives to public safety and selflessly worked to protect the
people of Oakland," he said in a statement. "Our thoughts and prayers are with the families of those lost, the Oakland Police Department and law enforcement officers throughout California during this difficult time."
Police said Mixon wielded two different weapons. One gun was used at the first scene and an assault rifle was used at the apartment building where he was hiding.
"(Mixon) was on parole and he had a warrant out for his arrest for violating that parole. And he was on parole for assault with a deadly weapon," said Oakland police Deputy Chief Jeffery Israel.
Police said they did not know why the officers initially stopped the suspect, but said it
apparently was a routine traffic stop. Thomason said Mixon had an "extensive criminal history" and was wanted on a no-bail warrant.
Reached by telephone late Saturday, Hege's father, Dr. John S. Hege said his son loved being a policeman. He worked well with people and was an Eagle Scout. He played high school football and wrestled. He umpired and coached even as a youth, and joined the Oakland Police Department reserves.
After graduating from St., Mary's College in Moraga, he taught high school
physical education for a few years in nearby Hayward before joining the police department a decade ago.
He recently became a motorcycle traffic patrol officer, Dr. Hege said, adding, "He liked
excitement."
As for the slain shooting suspect, the father said, "The man was evidently terribly desperate. It is a sad story."
LaTasha Mixon, 28, of Sacramento said Sunday her cousin was "not a monster." She said her family's prayers were with the slain officers' relatives.
"We're devastated. Everybody took a major loss. We're crushed," she said.

From the Associated Press:

SAN DIEGO -- San Diego police shot and killed a knife-wielding man on Friday after he
fatally stabbed a woman believed to be his wife and wounded a police dog.
Police went to the home in the Paradise Hills neighborhood after a woman called to report a man threatening to kill himself and brandishing a knife, said police Lt. Terry McManus.
A man came to the front door and threatened to kill police. He also made statements that led
officers to believe he had slain his wife inside, McManus said.
Officers entered the house led by a police dog. The man stabbed the dog before two officers shot him, McManus said.
Police then searched the house and found the woman had been stabbed to death.
The victims were not immediately identified.
The police dog, a German shepherd named Earp, was taken to a veterinary hospital and was expected to recover.

I really believe that the meltdown that led to Ernesto Castaneda's death was probably an anniversarial reaction to something. In March 2008 he evaded officers while drunk and earned a conviction in El Monte Superior Court.

This March (Sunday to be exact) he went on a bender and attacked deputies with a machete and a baseball bat before they shot him to death.  Jennifer McLain's story from today's newspaper leads me to believe that Castaneda's depression and the ides of March are somehow linked. Here's portions of her story:

ROSEMEAD - The young man who was shot and killed by deputies Sunday after brandishing a machete struggled with depression since the death of his mother, neighbors said.

Ernesto Castaneda, 22, died at a nearby hospital on Sunday after deputies shot him. Castaneda's father called the police on his son around 11 a.m. on Sunday because Castaneda was "high" and armed with a machete, according to sheriff's deputies.

<snip> 

"He was a good boy," said neighbor Lorraine O'Neill, who has known Castaneda since he was a child. "He just got depressed after his mom died three years ago and he's been struggling since then."

Last March, Castaneda was convicted of evading arrest and being under the influence of alcohol or drugs in a vehicle.

I also think it's interesting to compare how the sheriff's department has handled the case to Pasadena's handling of the Leroy Barnes shooting.  

This from reporter Robert Hong in Pasadena:

ALTADENA - A man was shot by a Los Angeles County Sheriff's deputy at about 9:30 p.m. Tuesday in the 3000 block of Highview Avenue, authorities said.

No deputies were harmed in the incident, and the man was taken to a local hospital.

No details were released as to why the man was shot.

No further information was available.

Barney Melekian is hosting police* chiefs from around the state for an annual training symposium beginning Tuesday at the newly reopened Pasadena Convention Center:

Here's a link to the schedule.

On Thursday, Melekian hosts a workshop: "Police Chief as City Manager"

At least he's not giving lessons in how to handle the press at an officer involved shooting.

 

The Pasadena Police Department has told the Los Angeles County Department of Coroner to withhold investigative and autopsy information in the Leroy Barnes shooting for "security reasons." Apparently there's a real need for something to remain secret in the case..

This from Coroner's Chief Ed Winter:

"The law enforcement agency asked for more time to do further investigation in the case.

We're not allowed to release any information until the hold is released. Most of the time it's for follow up on more information. They are probably still seeking witnesses and this so (anyone interested) isn't alerted to the facts by reading the newspaper."

The hold could last for as long as 90 days, Winter said.

"After 90 days we send them a note and make a call, 'It's been 90 days, what the heck? At that point they are going to have to justify why or what's taking so long to finish up this investigation," Winter added.

 

Certainties exist in life.

Pasadena officials would have us believe one of those certainties played out at the corner of Washington Boulevard and Mentone Avenue last week: Pull a gun on a cop, expect to be shot.

If that's what Leroy Barnes did, he deserved to pay with his life.

If that's what happened.

In public life certainties exist as well. Misrepresentations will cost agencies their reputations.

The Pasadena police department's reputation is on the line because of misrepresentations.

Did Pasadena police officers involved in the shooting mislead police spokeswoman Janet Pope-Givens and subsequently Chief Barney Melekian?

Or, did Pope-Givens and Melekian mislead the public with their initial statements at the scene?

After the shooting of

Barnes, 37, a parolee with a state prison record that included a conviction for firing at an officer in 1993, Pope-Givens and Melekian both spoke to the media.

Pope-Givens said Barnes was in a car that had been pulled over. She said Barnes got out of the car. She said Barnes fired on officers who shot back and killed him.

A few hours later Melekian said, "It appears from all accounts the officers' version is correct." He said the department would release a video of the incident within days.

The next day, the stories changed.

It turns out Barnes did not get out of the car. And he did not fire on officers. As for the video, Melekian said there is a legal challenge that prevents its release.

Which raises other questions:

What should we believe now?

Why hasn't the Sheriff's Department been called in to independently investigate?

Certainly the Bulldogs in the Homicide Bureau have the trust of many other communities.

Instead, the Pasadena will handle the investigation on its own and turn over those results to the Los Angeles County District Attorney's Office and the FBI.

Adding insult to injury, the Police Department ordered a streetside memorial to Barnes dismantled, because it was blocking the sidewalk.

The Pasadena Police Department has lost some of its stature and much of its credibility.

Lacking credibility, what leadership can Melekian offer that would bridge the gap between Pasadena's hard-working police officers and the community they serve?

What's to say he won't be misled again?

It's time to bring in competent and experienced detectives from the Sheriff's Department to repair any credibility gap that may have formed.