Oakland police shot and killed a mentally ill man when he charged at
them with an ax after they shot him with stun guns and a bean-bag
round, authorities said Friday. Booker Carloss II, 50, who was a
paralegal student, was shot shortly after 10 p.m. Thursday in the
basement of his home at 2830 Magnolia St. in West Oakland. He was
pronounced dead at the scene. Carloss' brothers said they had called
police to remove him from the home because he was acting erratically
and wielding an ax. He did not react when Sgt. Kevin Johnson and Sgt.
Fred Mestas fired their Tasers, nor after Officer Jacob Floyd fired a
bean-bag round, police said. Police said Mestas, a 27-year veteran, and
Floyd, on the force for two years, had no choice but to fire their
weapons when Carloss charged toward Mestas with a 3-foot-long ax. On
Friday, Carloss' brothers, Jerome, 48, and Glenn, 46, decried what they
called a needless use of deadly force, and said they believed the
officers fired their guns within 10 to 15 seconds of entering the
basement. They showed a reporter the small room, part of which was
matted with blood. "They came in like gangbusters," Glenn Carloss said.
"We just feel that they had an opportunity to resolve this without
having to go into a kill mode." Jerome Carloss, who declined to discuss
his brother's mental health, said the police "went down and strictly
murdered this man." [more]
A grand jury will study the shooting death of a man by Monroe police
next month, a prosecutor says. William Mack Henderson, 58, died Aug. 22
during a confrontation with police. Officers said Henderson refused to
drop a knife and chain and lunged at an officer. Henderson was shot an
undisclosed number of times. District Attorney Jerry Jones said he
received a 1,000-page report Wednesday from state police. Jones said he
plans to present the case to a grand jury during the first two weeks of
December. At least two people claiming to have witnessed the shooting
contradicted the police department's account. Officials involved in the
probe have not verified or discredited those statements. Jones said the
state police investigation would not be made public before the grand
jury meets. [more]
The Mexican consulate has asked for an investigation into the shooting
of a Mexican citizen by a Broward County sheriff's deputy. The shooting
of German Gomez, 22, looked "like a real case of abuse of authority,
and it's devastating," David Kubiliun, a lawyer for the consulate in
Miami, said Thursday. Gomez, who was in critical condition at North
Broward Medical Center, was shot once in the head in the parking lot of
a Pompano Beach apartment complex Wednesday evening by a deputy
responding to a report of an attempted burglary. Gomez's family said he
and his cousin, Javier Dominguez, 21, who had both recently moved from
the southern Mexican province of Chiapas, mistakenly went to the wrong
apartment when they returned home from work.
After a deputy put him on the ground in the parking lot and handcuffed
him, Dominguez said he heard a gunshot, looked to Gomez and saw him
lying in blood. Dominguez "started crying when he saw his cousin," said
Joe Buchanan, a former assistant U.S. attorney who is part of the men's
legal team. "He started fearing for his own life." Dominguez said he
did not understand what the deputies were saying. Kubiliun said his
clients surrendered peacefully and that a language barrier between them
and the deputies may have been a factor in the shooting. [more] and [more]
The family of a 24-year-old man fatally shot by two police
officers is seeking $10million in damages from the city, claiming
wrongful death and excessive force. Freddie Joe Enriquez was shot Aug.
29 by two unidentified police officers on a second-floor balcony of the
Sunset Village Apartments. The officers who fired did so without proper
justification and "failed to immediately summon medical personnel,' the
family's claim contends. The claim was filed with the city
on behalf of the family by attorney John Henley on Nov. 1 and was
addressed to Mayor Dierdre Bennett and the City Council. Freddie had
been visiting his mother, who lived in the complex and was leaving for
dinner with his girlfriend and her parents, family members said. The
couple were on their way to the car when Enriquez saw police. Two
officers had responded to an unrelated call of a "disturbed person' at
the Sunset Village apartments police said. When they arrived, their
attention was diverted from the original call after they noticed
Freddie Enriquez arguing with another tenant, police said. "They made
eye contact and my brother ran,' Antoinette Enriquez said. When the two
officers approached him, police said Freddie Enriquez pulled out a
handgun. The officers shot him and called paramedics, coroner's
officials said. Enriquez was taken to Loma Linda University Medical
Center, where he was pronounced dead. He was shot twice in the head and
five times in the chest. "It took them forever for them to get my
brother to the hospital,' his sister, Antoinette Enriquez, said. "His
girlfriend heard him breathing really hard, trying to take a breath.'
[more]
A man was shot and killed on Northwest Side after police
tried to pull him over for driving erratically. Authorities say
following a police chase, 25-year-old John Fuentes grabbed a female
officer's gun and began struggling with her. He was shot by other
officers who arrived at the scene. Chicago police say the incident
started when officers patrolling the area of Homer and Cicero noticed
the driver of a Ford Explorer driving erratically. They gave chase,
but moments later at the corner of Lamon and Homer, the squad car
rear-ended the Explorer, forcing it to stop. Police say that's when
Fuentes jumped out and ran. A female officer chased him into an empty
lot in the 4800-block of Armitage. Police say the officer and Fuentes
struggled for the officer's gun."Our female officer was on the
ground...offender is on top of her...he
was shot by the responding uniformed officers," said Pat Camden,
Chicago Police Department spokesperson. The family is not convinced
about the circumstances. Another woman said she witnessed the shooting
and did not agree with the police account of events. Annigalia Turner,
who told Vatis she was questioned by police all night, said she saw
everything out her apartment window. "They were yelling way before they
got to him, 'Let her go.' Well, the guy stopped whatever he was doing,"
Turner said. The witness added that "about 20 police officers" ran up
to the pair. She said police shot the man even though he had stopped
when officers commanded. Turner claimed the officers then turned Fue
"They got this close and aimed the gun and shot the guy," said
Annidalia Turner. "They yelled 3 times for him to get off of her...but
they didn't get him the opportunity. They just shot." "Why did they
kill my nephew the way they did? I would like to know....reasonable
doubt, anything. Was he a suspect for something - we don't know," said
Olivia Castaneda, suspect's aunt.[more] and [more] and [more]
Officers say he lunged at them. Witnesses didn't see 'lunge'
The first formal report about a fatal police shooting Nov. 2 listed no
evidence from witnesses to support officers' statements that a suspect
lunged at them with a knife before he was killed. Navon Lefort Ligon,
43, died as two officers were trying to arrest him on a domestic
violence assault charge outside his girlfriend's house at 4608 Brockton
Drive. The report, written by Raleigh Police Chief Jane Perlov and
submitted to City Manager Russell Allen on Tuesday, mentions three
witnesses who heard officers order Ligon to drop the knife. It says two
of the witnesses later saw the knife after the shooting, as it was
kicked away from the suspect. A third witness saw the knife in Ligon's
possession before the officers' arrival and in his hand before the
shooting. The witnesses were not named in Perlov's report. But two
witnesses told The News & Observer last week that three civilians
saw the incident. They did not see Ligon lunge at anyone, the two
witnesses said. The State Bureau of Investigation is conducting a
criminal probe, and the Police Department is conducting an internal
review. Perlov's statement, released Wednesday, provides new details
about what led to the shooting and what each of the officers said
occurred. Ligon's girlfriend, Freda Gail Narron, called 911 about 1
a.m. on Nov. 2 to report that her boyfriend had assaulted her and
stolen her purse, money and identification. [more]
Pictured above: Chief Jane Perlov's statement offers new details.
Witnesses Contradict Police In Suspect's Death [more]
Minutes after issuing a five-page statement yesterday calling the fatal
shooting of a Roxbury man by police last June justified, the Suffolk
County District Attorney's Office withdrew that declaration, citing
concerns among the victim's family and community activists. The bizarre
turnaround caught members of the news media assembled for a press
conference by surprise as they were asked to relinquish their copies of
the report. "The Bowen family and community leaders have voiced their
concerns and opinions, and we promised to give them due
consideration,'' said spokesman David Procopio. ``This is the right
thing to do.'' He said the findings would be released in ``several
days.'' Bert Bowen, 40, was pulled over on Blue Hill Avenue June 27 on
a routine traffic stop. According to police, Bowen struggled with an
officer, got out of his grasp, and then pulled a gun from his waist
while trying to flee. At one point in the chase, Bowen allegedly
pointed the .40-caliber weapon in the direction of one of two pursuing
officers and police fired at him in response. Bowen was shot in
the head, back, and leg, according to police. But witnesses said Bowen
had nothing in his hands as he ran from police. Bowen's family and
several community leaders met with authorities in the days after the
shooting and said they would wait for the district attorney's findings
before deciding what course of action to take. [more]
Pictured above: Dorothy Bowen, widow of Bert Bowen who was shot
and killed by Boston police, walks with NAACP head Leonard Alkins
Dallas City Hall is issuing a formal apology over a fake drug scandal,
nearly three years after it surfaced. What turned out to be pool chalk,
was planted on dozens of Latino immigrants by highly paid informants
working with narcotics detectives. Several informants have been
convicted. Offering an apology to the victims of the 2001 fake-drug
scandal, the Dallas City Council unanimously passed a resolution
expressing "deep remorse" for the false arrests. The measure passed
Wednesday also offered apologies to the victims' families and the
city's residents for breakdowns at the Police Department. "It is very,
very tragic what happened to a great number of people, and I think we
are on the right track now," said Mayor Pro Tem John Loza. The scandal
erupted in late 2001 after more than two dozen people, mostly Hispanic
immigrants, went to jail based on bogus drug evidence planted by
corrupt police informants. The resolution states that those false
arrests - which have led to criminal charges against several former
narcotics officers and the informants - should be "indelibly etched in
our history," so that similar mistakes aren't repeated. Calling it an
"extraordinary step," City Attorney Madeleine Johnson said such a vote
expressing remorse for city failures probably is unprecedented in the
city's history. The two-page resolution asks officials to continue
searching for reasons why the department's "system designed to fight a
war on drugs was subverted so that innocent people became its
casualties." [more] and [more]
Cincinnati Cops Beat Black Man to Death on Videotape. No Officers Disciplined
Just weeks away from the first anniversary of Nathaniel "Skip" Jones'
death while in Cincinnati police custody, City Manager Valerie Lemmie
is rejecting a civilian oversight board's findings and won't impose any
discipline against officers involved in the incident. The city's
Citizen Complaint Authority -- which reviews allegations of misconduct
and excessive use of force by police -- recommended in August that
three officers receive "severe disciplinary sanctions" for their roles
in Jones' death. But Lemmie, who makes the decision on discipline,
agreed with the Cincinnati Police Department's internal investigation
that officers didn't violate any policies when handling Jones. Instead,
officers should receive additional training on how to avoid positional
asphyxiation, or suffocation, with handcuffed suspects who are obese or
have certain medical conditions. "While the death of Mr. Jones is
tragic, I do not believe our officers violated CPD policy," she said.
Jones' death was the first major case reviewed by the Citizen Complaint
Authority, which was formed in early 2003 as part of a settlement of a
racial profiling lawsuit against police. An attorney
representing Jones' family in a federal lawsuit against the city noted
that police already had received a training bulletin from the chief on
positional asphyxiation before the Nov. 30, 2003, incident. Jones, who
weighed nearly 350 pounds, stopped breathing after he was handcuffed
and placed on his stomach in a parking lot after a scuffle with
officers. "How much training does it take to read a memo from the
chief?" asked attorney Kenneth Lawson. "What additional training does
Valerie think these officers need?" [more]
See Video of beating [more] (Curiously, the Police tape begins after the altercation has started)
Man claims he was beaten to give up hidden bag of cocaine. An Allentown man acknowledges he was hiding a bag of cocaine in
his mouth when police arrested him. But he claims police officers had
no right to physically force him to give it up. Jesse Crespo is suing
Allentown police in federal court, alleging they violated his civil
rights by beating him as they tried to take the cocaine. In his suit,
Crespo says he was in his car one night in September 2002 when police
approached him. He put a bag in his mouth containing 1.77 grams of
cocaine. Officers from the vice squad tried to remove the bag by
''administering a series of stunning blows,'' according to his suit.
Officer David Patino allegedly struck Crespo in the mouth repeatedly
while other officers subdued Crespo. They also allegedly beat him with
their hands, causing him to fear for his safety. He eventually
relinquished the bag. Crespo, who is black and Hispanic, alleges that
racial prejudice motivated the conduct of the officers, who called him
by racial slurs. He suffered a permanent injury to his left eye and has
headaches and double vision. He also was bruised and scraped and missed
work for several weeks. Police charged him with possession with intent
to deliver a controlled substance, possession of a controlled
substance, tampering with evidence and resisting arrest. Crespo, 20,
alleges that Patino filed the resisting arrest charge, without a legal
basis, to shield himself from liability for beating Crespo. Patino
later gave false testimony about the resisting arrest charge, according
to the suit. [more]
74 Yr. Old Latino Man Dead in Confrontation with Blue Island Police
Mayor Donald Peloquin defended his administration amid fresh criticisms
of the city a month after a 74-year-old Hispanic man died after an
encounter with two Blue Island police officers. He denied that city
officials were trying to minimize the death of Antonio Manrique, who
was tackled by the officers on the street near his home and died of his
injuries in the hospital on Oct. 10. Officials say the incident was a
case of mistaken identity. Peloquin was particularly upset by a letter
that U.S. Rep. Bobby Rush (D-Ill.) wrote to a local newspaper
criticizing the way the city handled the incident. "No one in this city
has not been touched by" Manrique's death, Peloquin said during Tuesday
night's City Council meeting. "We will take appropriate measures after
the investigation is completed." The city also has been hit with a
dozen civil lawsuits alleging other acts of police brutality. [more]
Latino Man Dies after being shocked. Cops Order More Tasers
The death of a man in Fort Worth after being shot with an electrified
dart this week has recharged debate about the safety of the
increasingly popular stun guns. Touted as a life-saving alternative to
deadly force, Tasers are used by every major law-enforcement department
in Harris County and 300 across Texas. The sudden death of 21-year-old
Robert Guerrero on Tuesday is the state's third that occurred in police
custody after the use of a stun gun, based on reports from the
manufacturer and the media. The incident did not shake Houston Police
Chief Harold Hurtt's conviction that his pending order for $4.7 million
in Tasers will help save lives, not end them. "Tasers give officers
another option besides their handguns when they are confronted by
someone with a weapon other than a gun or by someone who is mentally
ill," he said. Houston's City Council approved buying 3,600 Tasers this
week. Guerrero's death occurred after Fort Worth police officers
responded to a tip that someone was illegally running electrical lines
into an apartment. They followed the lines, discovered Guerrero hiding
in a closet and threatened to stun him if he didn't come out. Shortly
after being zapped with 50,000 volts, Guerrero stopped breathing and
died, said Fort Worth Police Department spokesman Lt. Abdul Pridgen. It
was the third recent death in Texas of someone who had been stunned by
a Taser. [more]
A day after a trial started in a police-abuse lawsuit against a
controversial former Inglewood officer, a judge approved a settlement
in which the city will pay $590,000, lawyers said. Last Wednesday's action marked the second time there was a
settlement in the lawsuit Surjue filed against the city of Inglewood,
former police officer Jeremy Morse and officer Bijan Darvish. Last
year, Surjue said she agreed to a $470,000 settlement, but that deal
was nixed after she later said her lawyers at the time and U.S.
District Judge S. James Otero pressured her into settling her case.
Otero later ordered the case to trial, which started Tuesday with jury
selection. Testimony was slated to begin Wednesday but the new accord
ended the trial. Surjue's new lawyer Joseph L. Shalant said his client
was pleased with the new agreement, which he called "final." "It's a
very fair settlement," Shalant said. As part of the agreement, the
claims against Morse, Darvish and other officers would be dismissed and
the city of Inglewood will be the sole defendant, Shalant said.
Surjue's lawsuit claimed that in October 2001, Morse and Darvish
illegally entered her house, then Morse rushed toward her and pushed
her into a wall and stairway railing. She fell down and fractured her
coccyx, the suit contends. Glave said defense lawyers would have
challenged Surjue's account and he was ready to argue that medical
records showed "no objective signs of any assault taking place that
night." [more]
Pictured above:
Officer Morse was criminally charged and fired after he was seen on a
widely broadcast videotape beating and slamming 16 year old, Donovan Jackson while he was handcuffed in July
2002. The criminal charges were dropped [more]
Police-brutality victim Patricia Surjue and her elusive day in court [more]
Second Police Officer Admits Punching California Teenager [more]
A lawsuit filed Friday on behalf of 15 students and their parents
claims that Kent School District security officers used excessive force
against students, including handcuffing, squeezing ``pressure points''
or joints, or unnecessarily kneeing children. The action filed in King
County Superior Court by attorneys representing the Seattle-King County
Chapter of the NAACP follows an earlier claim for nearly $50 million in
damages. The action also claims the students, all black, received more
harsh discipline or were treated differently because they are African
American. The rejection of that earlier claim by insurance carriers for
the school district allows the children and parents to pursue their
claims in court. Pursuant to state law, the lawsuit filed Friday
doesn't list any dollar figures, but says damages will be shown at the
time of trial. And attorneys anticipate filing additional claims on
behalf of more students. The earlier claims filed against the school
district, and rejected by insurance carriers, sought $3.3 million in
damages for each of the 15 students, or a total of $49.5 million. [more]
Two witnesses who said they saw police shoot and kill a knife-wielding
man in northeast Raleigh on Tuesday contradict a police account that
the suspect lunged at an officer with the weapon. Navon Lefort Ligon,
43, was shot once while officers were trying to arrest him outside his
girlfriend's apartment at 4608 Brockton Drive on Tuesday afternoon. He
was wanted in connection with an assault early Tuesday morning on the
girlfriend, Freda Gail Narron. Ligon was shot by Sgt. Craig
Haines. Officer Stephen Wolfe was with Haines at the scene, according
to an incident report. A statement released by police Tuesday
evening said that after "Ligon resisted, and a foot pursuit ensued," he
ignored orders by police and "lunged forward with the knife" before
Haines shot him. Elena Hurst, 34, said she watched from across the
street as two Raleigh officers approached a man and a woman near an
apartment building Tuesday afternoon. The officers told the man they
had a warrant for his arrest, but he denied that they did and started
walking away, Hurst said. She didn't see a weapon. "They said, 'Drop
the knife. Drop the knife,' " she said. When one of the cops sprayed
the man with pepper spray, it had no effect. He started walking toward
the street, Hurst said. The officer who shot him walked six or seven
feet behind Ligon, and the other was a few feet in front, she said.
"His back was turned to the police officer, and when he went to turn
around, that's when the police shot him," she said. "But mind you, it
wasn't like he was waving the knife around." John Gettinger Sr., 62, of
Surf City was working on one of the apartments he owns across the
street and also witnessed the encounter. Gettinger and Hurst said that
the suspect was walking at a normal pace and that his hands were at his
sides when the shot was fired. "I didn't see him make any kind of
threatening motion or anything like that," Gettinger said. [more]
A 19-year-old Sylmar man who opened fire with a
gun at a raucous Halloween party died after being shot -- in
self-defense -- by an off-duty LAPD officer, officials said Monday.
Mario Lopez died Sunday evening at Simi Valley Hospital of a gunshot
wound to the neck, officials said. William Ortiz, a bystander at the
party, was listed in fair condition with a gunshot wound to the jaw.
The off-duty officer was questioned by Simi Valley police and released.
He was identified Monday by the Los Angeles Police Department as Jaime
Reyes, a first-year rookie assigned to the Van Nuys Division.
"Detectives are investigating the shooting, but it appears at this time
that the off-duty officer fired his gun in defense of his life," said
Simi Valley police Sgt. Paul Fitzpatrick. LAPD Sgt. Catherine Plows
said Monday the department's Force Investigation Division was
investigating the incident. [more]
Last week we called into question the NYPD's
decision to declare the shooting of 18-year-old Queens deli clerk
Manuel Chametta a "freak accident" and leave it at that. Chametta, as
you probably remember, was shot and killed by retired police officer
John Malik, who claims he was reaching for his beeper, knocked his gun
loose and, when reaching to recover it, accidentally fired one bullet
into Chametta's chest. That he wasn't taken into custody as a simple
matter of procedure afterwards, and that there was no serious
investigation planned into the shooting struck us as awfully peculiar
at best. Again, not to imply guilt or intent on his part, but had this
happened to any civilian, he or she would have been arrested and an
investigation would have followed--no matter how clear-cut things
seemed. And this case was far from clear-cut. It seems a few more
people came to that conclusion last week, too. Chametta's father grew
more adamant about the peculiarities of the case, with both Malik's and
almost-witness Felipe Santiago Villares' stories changing, and a city
councilman demanded that the Queens DA's office arrest Malik and
conduct a real investigation. Yet for all the coverage, all the calls for this and that,
all the arguments from both sides, it seems strange that still no one
has even mentioned the deli's security cameras. The shooting took place
at the front counter. Any security cameras in the shop would have been
pointed at the front counter. The tape from that evening would quickly
and clearly resolve this whole issue once and for all--so why isn't it
being done? Or is the Astoria Food Mart the only deli in the city that
doesn't have security cameras? [more]
The
Durham District Attorney's Office will not pursue charges
against a police officer who shot and killed a 15-year-old back in
July. Officers said Tony Rochelle shot at Officer John McDonough.
McDonough later fired back, killing Rochelle. District Attorney Jim
Hardin said the officer used reasonable force in what he thought was a
life-threatening situation. Hardin also recommended the State Bureau of
Investigation take no further action against McDonough.Rochelle was
shot and killed during a confrontation with an officer outside the
Oxford Manor Apartments just after 1 a.m. Police were called out to a
report of loud music. When authorities got to Oxford Manor, a group of
people began to break up. Police say Rochelle and another young male
took off running. Police say a man-to-man struggle took place in the
woods near Wiggins Street Fish Dam Road between Officer J.J. McDonough
and Rochelle. During the struggle, police say Rochelle produced a
weapon and fired it. McDonough returned fire, striking Rochelle [more] and [more]
A teenager is fighting for his life following a police-involved
shooting on an Indian reservation in Arizona. The 18-year-old, whose
name has not been released, was allegedly observed by police speeding
through a stop sign on the Pima and Maricopa tribes' Salt River
Reservation just outside of the Phoenix suburb of Scottsdale. A chase
ensued that saw the suspect attempt to allude authorities while driving
on a dirt and gravel road that is bordered by a few homes and cotton
fields. When the car slowed, police got out and approached it.
Officials say the driver rammed his car into two police cars, and then
steered toward the officer. The officer opened fire, wounding the man.
He was taken to Scottsdale Healthcare Osborn. Two other teens were in
the suspect's vehicle but were unharmed. Local and federal officials
are investigating the case. [more]
Authorities in Covington County aren't saying much about a fatal
shooting involving a sheriff's deputy. It happened Thursday about noon
at a residence on Highway 55, about four miles north of Florala, in the
Lockhart community. The Alabama Bureau of Investigation said a Florala
man, 47-year-old Aron Shaw, was shot and killed after he got into a fight with a deputy.
Stephanie Green lived in the same neighborhood as Aron Shaw. She says
around 11:30 Thursday morning, she heard someone screaming for help
saying, "They are going to kill me." Green says that's when police
arrested Aron Shaw. A little while later, he was found shot to death
nearly 4 miles outside of Florala. Green says she's not surprised
considering what she says she saw happened during the arrest. "I saw
someone stomp him and he slammed his head it the car 5 times. You could
hear it," "It's just sad," said Sylvia Wallace, a woman who lived
not far from Shaw. "He was found on the ground dead. An officer shot
him." Shaw allegedly kicked the glass out of a patrol car after being
apprehended by law enforcement, and subsequently obtained the
official's tazer gun and repeatedly shocked the officer. Linda Carson
claims to have been an eye witness to an incident involving Shaw and
police officers the day he was shot to death. "They were beating him,"
Carson said. "I'm talking beating this man. I backed up to tell these
other guys to come and look at what was going on. "I said, 'I've got to
go get this man some help,' so I called the mayor's office and said,
'Somebody needs to get up there and stop them from beating that man up
there.' [more] and [more] and[more] and [more]
