Thread: HPD officer killed after traffic stop

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HPD officer killed after traffic stop



Bad news from southeast Houston yesterday evening: Rodney Johnson, a 12-year veteran of HPD, was apparently killed by a suspect sitting in the back seat of his patrol car. It started just after 5 p.m., when Johnson pulled over a pickup with two people inside; a female passenger fled the scene, but Johnson detained and handcuffed the male driver. Later, Johnson was found at Randolph and Braniff, on the southern edge of Hobby Airport, shot four times through the plastic shield separating the front and rear of the cruiser. The 32-year-old suspect, Juan Leonardo Quintero, was still handcuffed and sitting in the back of the car along with a pistol believed to have been used in the shooting; Johnson was pronounced dead at Ben Taub.

It's unclear exactly what happened, but police say Quintero somehow managed to get a gun and shoot Johnson from the back seat. There are few details so far this morning, but KPRC reports Quintero's criminal history includes charges of sexual assault of a child and driving while intoxicated; he's being held in the Harris County Jail with no bond. Investigators say they've been in touch with the female suspect who fled the scene.

Johnson is the first HPD officer killed in more than two years; the last, Frank Cantu, was hit by a drunk driver in Montrose in March 2004. According to the Chronicle, just over 100 HPD officers have been killed in the line of duty since 1860.

Donations to benefit Johnson's family may be made to the 100 Club Survivor's Fund at the100club.org, by phone at 713.952.0100 or by mail to 1233 West Loop South, Suite 1250, Houston, 77027.

http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/met ... 06756.html

Sept. 22, 2006, 2:16PM

Illegal immigrant charged in HPD shooting death
By JENNIFER LEAHY, JAMES NIELSEN and MIKE TOLSON
Copyright 2006 Houston Chronicle

A 32-year-old illegal immigrant has been charged in Thursday evening's shooting death of Houston Police Officer Rodney Johnson.

Juan Leonardo Quintero has been charged with capital murder in the 248th District Court, said HPD spokesman John Cannon.

The suspect is an illegal immigrant from Mexico who has been deported in the past and sometimes expressed concern about immigration officials and worried that he should return, his wife, Theresa Quintero, said in an interview today at their home near Hobby Airport.

Mrs. Quintero said the couple has been married since 1997.

The HPD spokesman Cannon said the suspect gave "a full confession" to the shooting.

A Harris County prosecutor said in court this morning that, while seated in the back seat, the suspect pulled a 9 mm handgun from his waistband and shot Johnson in the face. The officer was able to push an emergency response button, alerting dispatch of a problem.

When other police arrived at the scene, Quintero remained in the back seat with the gun in his hand, the prosecutor said. Police found bullet casings inside the car.

Quintero kept his head down while waiting to be called before the judge. During a brief hearing, he answered "Yes'' when asked whether he understood the charge against him.

Quintero's record shows he received deferred adjudication for a 1998 charge of indecency with a child, according to Harris County records.

Also on his record are a 1996 charge of driving with a suspended license, a misdemeanor, and a driving while intoxicated conviction in 1995.

The simple traffic stop turned suddenly tragic Thursday evening when the veteran Houston police officer was shot and killed as he sat in the front seat of his patrol car near Hobby Airport.

Just after 5 p.m., Johnson had stopped a pickup with two people inside. It was unclear why he detained or handcuffed the driver, though an officer familiar with the incident said he had no identification on him. At least one female passenger left, possibly with Johnson's permission, but Police Chief Harold Hurtt said he thought officers had found the woman and were bringing her to headquarters for questioning.

A source familiar with the scene said Johnson was shot four times through the plastic shield separating the front and rear seats. Johnson managed to push his emergency button before collapsing. The 12-year veteran of the department was taken to Ben Taub General Hospital where he was pronounced dead.

The suspect reportedly struggled as officers tried to move him to a different vehicle.

"They finally got him in the other car, but he was scratching and fighting and acting crazy, like he could win in a fight like that," said Clara Rodriguez, who lives nearby.

Johnson, 40, was the first HPD officer killed in more than two years.

"He was very personable," Hurtt said. "We will miss one of our true soldiers in Rodney Johnson."

At least a dozen law enforcement vehicles cordoned off a large area at Randolph and Braniff where the light bar atop Johnson's patrol car continued to flash long after the shooting. Temporary spotlights illuminated the scene into the evening as evidence technicians scoured the area. The owner of a nearby machine shop was called to the scene because bullets apparently pierced the wall of his building and investigators needed to get inside.

Before the suspect was taken to HPD headquarters, he was stripped of his clothes, which were placed in evidence bags, and dressed in a white jumpsuit. He was then taken downtown in the second of three patrol cars that left the scene shortly after 7 p.m.


'It just breaks my heart'
As news of Johnson's death spread, police officers gathered in small groups but said little. One HPD sergeant walked to a patrol car, took out his cell phone and made a quick phone call, taking a long drink of cold water from a bottle.

"Something real bad has happened by the airport," he said.

Rodriguez said that she and her neighbors in the small subdivision between Telephone Road and Almeda Genoa knew Johnson well and that he was well-liked.

"He would always wave and smile when he saw me," Rodriguez said. "He was a real nice guy. All he was trying to do was enforce the rules."

Rodriguez said Johnson stopped her once for speeding when the speed limit was lowered on Telephone Road. She said he politely asked her to slow down and did not ticket her.

"He was just so very nice," she said. "He was not ever mean. It just breaks my heart. I feel so very bad for his wife. He got up and went to work this morning, and this is what happened. This is what happened to one of the people who protects us, who truly took care of us."

Johnson graduated from high school in Oakland, Calif., then enlisted in the Army, serving as an MP until he was honorably discharged in 1990. He served as a corrections officer for the Texas Department of Corrections (now the Texas Department of Criminal Justice) and as a Houston police jailer before attending the police academy and graduating in 1994.

Johnson was assigned to the southeast division that year and to the southeast gang task force in 1996. While on the task force he received two Lifesaving Awards from the department and one Medal of Valor from the state. He was married to Houston police officer Joslyn Johnson. They have three daughters and two sons.

The The 100 Club is issuing a $10,000 check to Johnson's family for any immediate costs associated with his death and will provide the family with further assistance later.

The group's Survivor’s Fund provides benefits to the dependents of peace officers and firefighters who are killed in the line of duty.


A familiar scene
Thursday's incident was similar to the shooting of Houston police officer G.P. Gaddis in 1994. Gaddis was murdered by one of two aggravated robbery suspects he was taking to jail for aggravated robbery. Both had been searched and handcuffed behind their backs before being placed in the back seat of the patrol car.

Edgar Arias Tamayo managed to maneuver his hands, still cuffed, to his front and retrieved a pistol hidden in his clothes. He then shot Gaddis in the back of the head as he was driving. The patrol car crashed into a house, and the suspect escaped from the wrecked car, but was arrested nearby.

Tamayo was convicted of capital murder and is on death row. The shooting prompted criticism of the department by police union officials who claimed Gaddis' death could have been prevented if patrol units carried two officers.

According to a police department patrol veteran, within the past two years all HPD officers were required to attend an in-service training refresher class on proper search technique. However, he said, the unique circumstances of each incident dictate how thoroughly a suspect is searched. Search procedures also are outlined in the department's general orders manual, the officer said.

"The degree of search can range from a strip search to a cursory pat-down," said the officer, who requested anonymity out fear of departmental reprisals. "If the person is just a witness or if (the stop) is just a traffic violation, you might just put them in the back of your (patrol) car to do the paperwork. If the suspect is high risk or wanted on a felony, then you need to do more than a pat-down. But even then, you can still miss a weapon. It's part of the job. And this isn't the first time an officer has been killed with a suspect in the back seat."

Nor was it out of the ordinary for a one-man patrol unit such as Johnson to arrest one or more suspects without calling for backup, the officer said.

In the estimation of the officer, the department's well-publicized staffing shortage leaves approximately 80 percent of all HPD patrol units with a single officer. There is no protocol mandating that single-patrol officers call for backup while making arrests, he added.

"If we called for backup every time we made an arrest, nothing would get done," the officer said. "Lots of officers arrest multiple suspects by themselves. But would it be safer with two officers? Absolutely."

News of Johnson's death hit the department hard, especially Hans Marticiuc, president of the Houston Police Officers' Union, who said he was a close friend.

"He was very, very safety conscious," Marticiuc said. "He knows how to search. He worked in the jail for a number of years and all they do is search prisoners down there. "

Johnson served on the union's board of directors.


Other officer deaths
The last Houston police officer killed in the line of duty was Frank M. Cantu, who was hit by a drunk driver in Montrose in March 2004. The driver was charged with intoxication manslaughter.

Three officers have been wounded in shootings since then, however. The most recent occurred in January 2005 in west Houston. Officer Ronald V. Pinkerton was shot twice as he approached a vehicle that had rear-ended him.

The last fatal shooting of a Houston police officer involved Charles R. Clark in 2003. Clark, a 20-year veteran, was killed while responding to a silent alarm at a check cashing store on South Loop 610.

In July 2005, 33-year-old reserve Deputy Constable Nehemiah Pickens was killed by friendly fire during a chase in northeast Houston. Pickens, who was armed but not in uniform, was shot four times in the back by a deputy sheriff.

About 100 Houston police officers have been killed in the line of duty since 1860.

Chronicle reporters Eric Hanson, Steve McVicker, Anne Marie Kilday, Peggy O'Hare, Jennifer Radcliffe, Mike Glenn and Todd Ackerman contributed to this report.

mike.tolson@chron.com

http://www.ktrh.com/

Suspected Cop Killer is Illegal Immigrant

The murder of a decorated HPD veteran might have been avoided if the federal government was doing its job of protecting the border, Houston Police Chief Harol Hurtt said Friday afternoon.
By Tracee Evans
Friday, September 22, 2006
The man who killed him was in this country illegally, Hurtt told reporters gathered to listen to him at the HPD Southeast Patrol Station. "The subject was deported, but he came back ...so if the government fulfilled their responsibility ...we would probably not be standing here today," Hurtt said.

Hurtt was asked if this murder of Officer Rodney Johnson meant the department would take a hard look at changing the way his officers deal with illegal immigrants. Department policy now prevents officers from asking the immigration status of many suspects.

Juan Leonardo Quintero, 32, has been jailed without bond after being charged with capital murder in the death of Johnson.

Quintero is scheduled to make his first court appearance Monday before Judge Joan Campbell. Johnson, 40, was pronounced dead Thursday night at Ben Taub Hospital after being shot multiple times with a 9mm handgun, according to prosecutors.

The shooting occurred around 5:30 p.m. following a routine traffic stop on Braniff Street near Hobby Airport. Johnson had just handcuffed Quintero and put him in the back of a patrol car. According to prosecutors, Quintero pulled a gun from his waistband and started firing, hitting Johnson several times.

Meantime, law enforcement sources told KTRH News earlier Friday that Quintero is in the U.S. illegally and has an extensive criminal history. KTRH News learned Quintero was charged with indecency with a child in 1998 and driving while intoxicated in 1995.

Officials say as many a three individuals who had been in Quintero's truck fled the scene. The suspect was still in the patrol car when other officers arrived in response to Johnson's distress call. Shell casings and the gun were recovered from the back seat, according to court papers.

Johnson's widow, Joslyn, is also on the force. They have five children.

The 100 Club is issuing the family a check for $10,000 to help with immediate expenses. Club Executive Director Rick Hartley says the organization will help the family financially as well as provide college tuition assistance for all five Johnson children.

To make a donation to help the Johnson family, see www.the100club.org.

My prayers to Rodney Johnson's family another member of the thin blue line as paid the ultimate price for serving and protecting.

Too sad for words. May his soul rest in peace and bless his wife and children.

http://www.chron.com/disp/dispcomp2.mpl ... 4141#_self

http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/front/4208808.html

Sept. 23, 2006, 12:33AM
Shooting raises issue of policing immigrants
The policy: Chief says residency issues should be dealt with by the U.S., not HPD
The suspect: He is charged with capital murder after giving a 'full confession'


By ANNE MARIE KILDAY and ARMANDO VILLAFRANCA
Copyright 2006 Houston Chronicle

After a capital-murder charge was filed against an illegal immigrant in connection with the death of Officer Rodney Johnson, Chief Harold Hurtt firmly defended the Houston Police Department's policy of not enforcing immigration laws.

"If the government would fulfill their responsibility of protecting the border," he told reporters Friday afternoon, "we probably would not be standing here today."

The urgency of the immediate loss highlighted a breakdown prompted by several factors — the loose nets of an immigration system that allowed a deported man to slip back into the country illegally, a hidden gun that Johnson overlooked inside the suspect's waistband and a means of restraint that somehow allowed the handcuffed man to reach that weapon and pull the trigger.

Early Friday morning, the suspect, Juan Leonardo Quintero, a 32-year-old Mexican national, appeared briefly in the 248th state District Court, where he was informed of the charge against him.

Homicide Sgt. Mark Newcomb said officers "got a full confession" from Quintero.

As the investigation of Thursday's shooting near Hobby Airport continued, homicide Capt. Dale Brown said Johnson was shot after a pat-down search of Quintero, while the suspect was handcuffed in the back seat of his patrol car.

"The officer apparently just missed the weapon during the pat-down search," Brown said.

Johnson had stopped Quintero for driving a white Ford pickup at 50 mph in a 30 mph zone, Brown said. The officer decided to arrest Quintero for driving without a license or any other form of identification, then handcuffed Quintero, conducted the pat down and placed him in the back of his patrol car.

Johnson then called for a wrecker driver to tow the truck Quintero had been driving.

Quintero had been working for a landscaping company in the Deer Park area and was driving a company Ford double-cab pickup, Brown said.

Brown added that Quintero had concealed a 9 mm handgun in the waistband of his pants. Johnson was fatally wounded by four shots to the head and face.

Although Quintero was handcuffed behind his back, Brown said, he apparently manipulated his hands under his legs to the front of his body so he could fire the gun.

Brown said that some suspects "are very limber and can manipulate the handcuffs and bring them up. The other possibility is that also a very limber person can get the cuffs below the legs and bring them to the front."

He said it is "more likely" that Quintero had managed to bring the cuffs below his legs and then reached for his gun.

When witnesses arrived at the scene, Brown said, "They saw him with the gun, with the slide open, in front of him."

A tow truck driver who responded to Johnson's call was the first person to arrive on the scene, Brown said. The driver approached Johnson's patrol car, observed him "in some distress" and Quintero then fired one time, missing the wrecker driver, Brown said.

Johnson also had managed to press an emergency button that alerted dispatch something was wrong.

Shortly after that, other officers arrived, Brown said.

The officers who then arrested him placed the handcuffs "behind him," Brown said.

Brown said the suspect did not tell investigators why he fired.

"Nothing definitive ... ," Brown said. "My personal belief is that he was upset about being arrested rather than being written a ticket. And I believe he was upset, because he knew he was going to be discovered as a deported alien, and that he was going to spend several years in a federal prison before being deported."

Quintero was deported as an illegal felon in 1999, following a charge of indecency with a child, Brown said.

Court records show Quintero was given deferred adjudication in that case. Brown said Quintero's previous criminal record included an arrest for driving while intoxicated, for driving with a suspended license and for failing to stop and give information after an automobile accident.

The weapon Quintero used was believed to belong to his wife, Brown said.

Quintero was in the pickup with his wife's two daughters and a co-worker, Brown said. He had picked the girls up from school and was taking them home, Brown said.

But the arrest of an illegal immigrant renewed debate among local members of Congress over enforcement of immigration laws, in particular Hurtt's policy of prohibiting HPD officers from questioning suspects about their residency.


Enforcement at issue
U.S. Rep. Ted Poe, R-Humble, said the shooting highlighted the need to tighten the borders and beef up enforcement of immigration laws.

"We know that 25 homicides a day are committed by people who are illegally in the country and this is one more," he said.

Poe said police officers should have the authority to arrest people in the country illegally. He said Houston is viewed as a sanctuary for undocumented immigrants.

"The city of Houston has created an atmosphere that it's a sanctuary for illegals," Poe said. "They knew that, and that's why they go to Houston."

Other lawmakers said that while the shooting was unfortunate, it should not be used for political grandstanding on the eve of a general election.

U.S. Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee, D-Houston, said Johnson's family deserves justice. But, she added, the incident should not detract from efforts to reform current immigration laws.

"We all are suffering from overwhelming grief for the loss of officer Rodney Johnson (but) this is certainly not the time to make blanket accusations," Jackson Lee said, "but rather it is a time to unite to fight crime where crime exists. We should seek to solve all other problems or issues dealing with immigration away from this terrible tragedy."

U.S. Rep. Michael McCaul, R-Austin and chairman of the Homeland Security Subcommittee on Investigations, called Johnson's death "an outrage in the saddest way and yet another example of why America needs to make securing the borders the priority."

McCaul last month chaired a hearing in Houston to hear testimony about immigration-related violence.

At the hearing, Hurtt said he would need between 2,000 and 2,500 more officers if his department was required to enforce existing immigration laws.

Hurtt called a provision sponsored by U.S. Rep. John Culberson, R-Houston, that would cut federal funding to police departments that did not enforce immigration laws "misguided and wrong" and said the measure would detract officers from dealing with more serious crimes.

While supporters of immigration reform dismissed the hearings as a "traveling road show," others believe the hearings offered serious debate on immigration-related crime.

U.S. Rep. Gene Green, D-Houston, said Friday that using the crime for political reasons is unfortunate, especially for the family and friends of Johnson.

"The officer was killed," he said, "and whether he was a legal resident or not a legal resident the officer was still killed. That's the tragic part. There's no doubt that some of my colleagues who only want to do border protection will say this is what we need to do."

Hurtt said Friday that he has been working closely with Immigration and Customs Enforcement to encourage the federal government to notify the police department about illegal immigrants with outstanding criminal warrants.

"Number one, we have made some changes as far as operating with ICE as far as enforcement of immigration issues," Hurtt said. "If there is a criminal nexxus of an individual that we are working with, if there is a criminal warrant for an individual, HPD is involved in that. We are also in discussions with them (ICE) that if there is a warrant, they would put them in the National Crime Information Center."

Throughout HPD, officers expressed their mourning with a strip of black across their badges. Flags at all city buildings were flown at half-staff in Johnson's honor. At the 11 p.m. roll call at some substations Thursday night, photographs of Johnson were posted.

Many officers took time out to remember Johnson's friendly demeanor and love for his family and fellow officers.

Hurtt's news conference, attended by several assistant chiefs and several officers from the homicide division, was held at HPD's Southeast substation, where Johnson was assigned.

Hurtt said he wanted to spend time with Johnson's closest co-workers.

"I talked with them about going through an experience like this — about how each time we do it, it does not get any easier," he said. "It is very difficult for officers to accept something like this, without really looking internally at themselves and what they are doing on a day-to-day basis."

"Of course they worry about their safety, and the safety of other officers," the chief continued. "They are hurting. But they showed up to work, they are taking care of themselves, and they will continue taking care of the citizens of Houston."

Jennifer Leahy and Melanie Markley contributed to this report.

http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/front/4208576.html

Sept. 22, 2006, 11:45PM
Suspect's wife reacts
No clues point to why it happened
'That's not the man I married,' she says, wondering why he took gun


By ROSANNA RUIZ
Copyright 2006 Houston Chronicle

Theresa Quintero struggled Friday to make sense of the incomprehensible.

Why her husband, Juan Leonardo Quintero, took her gun from her locked safe. Why he told her he loved her as he left their southeast Houston home Thursday. Why he apparently snapped.

But above all, she grappled with why he ended up in jail, charged with capital murder in the shooting death of a Houston police officer.

"That's not the man I married," she said, then pushed aside a photo of her husband. "I love him, but he killed an officer. He had children and a wife."

Houston police said Quintero, 32, confessed to Thursday's fatal shooting of officer Rodney Johnson. He made a court appearance Friday, but has not yet entered a plea.

"I hate what he did, and I don't have nothing left," Theresa Quintero said.


'I don't understand'
The pair met almost a dozen years ago and had been happily married, she said. Whenever they did fight, he would still embrace her at night as they fell asleep.

Juan Quintero was here illegally and had been working for a landscaping company. Theresa, 35, is a native Houstonian.

One day at work, she said, her husband accidentally clipped off a squirrel's tail with his mower. He brought the injured animal home to nurse back to health and keep as a pet. When the animal died, she said, "He couldn't handle that death."

"I don't understand," Theresa Quintero said. "I'm lost."

The man she knew was a good stepfather to her two teenage daughters, she said. He kept potted red and white rosebushes in their front yard so she would have flowers on special occasions.

"Your roses are looking very pretty, aren't they?" he once asked her. She told him: "They're the best gift you ever gave me."

The couple had agreed that should immigration officers appear at their door, she would turn him over. Otherwise, they would continue to live together until her daughters completed school. Then, they planned to return to his native Mexico.

He was deported a few years ago after being charged with indecency with a child, but he ultimately returned to his family. The allegations were false, his wife said, and he was granted deferred adjudication. Court records also show a driving while intoxicated charge in 1995 and one for driving without a license a year later.


Says he had been sick

Juan Quintero would at times become anxious about being an illegal immigrant. He would occasionally tell his wife that he should go back home.

"Anyone who judges all illegal immigrants by what my husband did is crazy," she said.

Theresa Quintero said her husband had been sick in the days before the shooting. He wasn't taking any medication and didn't seem to be himself.

"He was just, blah," she said.

She paused, trying to collect her thoughts. Maybe he meant to shoot himself rather than the officer, she said. But if he was suicidal, he hid those feelings.

The night before the shooting, Juan Quintero told her they should be sure to tell each other they love each other more often. At the time, she didn't think much of the request, but now it weighed heavily on her mind.

None of it made sense. An innocent man lost his life for no good reason. Her husband stands accused.

"What happens to him is in God's hands," Theresa Quintero said. "He's got to pay the price. An officer is dead."

rosanna.ruiz@chron.com

"Anyone who judges all illegal immigrants by what my husband did is crazy," she said.

Yea the guy was an alterboy...with a record and here illegally (again)
The guy is scum and you know it. You knew he carried a gun.
Not a word from you about the police officers family, just self pity
for your illegal immigrant friends. you are not the victim. Now be
sure and get a lawyer on the taxpayers dime to defend him.

Do you get food stamps ? free medical? Housing subsidy? kids get
free school lunches?

Next time you or your kids call 911for help remember
Officer Rodney Johnson

At the hearing, Hurtt said he would need between 2,000 and 2,500 more officers if his department was required to enforce existing immigration laws.

Hurtt called a provision sponsored by U.S. Rep. John Culberson, R-Houston, that would cut federal funding to police departments that did not enforce immigration laws "misguided and wrong" and said the measure would detract officers from dealing with more serious crimes.

No Mr. Hurtt. No one is trying to make immigration officers out of local police. 287(g) training teaches officers how to deal with illegal aliens encountered in the normal course of their duties. This crimanal should have been gone from here long ago, kept out, and could have been if law was observed by this federal government. You sound like ABG Gonzales that persons here illegally can be "otherwise legal." Crime is crime and must always be dealt with consequences. We see over and over how the first crime of violating our law escalates as one crime after another is required and committed in support of the original goal. Rep. Culberson is right to not waste American taxpayer dollars on municipalities that are fomentors of anarchy.