Thread: OK-Police inaction puzzles survivor (Update)

Police inaction puzzles survivor



By DAVID SCHULTE World Staff Writer
9/6/2008


An Owasso man is searching for answers after his wife's death in a hit-and-run accident.


As a former police officer and fire chief, Bob Shouse believes that when a driver leaves the scene of an accident, that alone is cause for an arrest.

That's why he can't understand why the man who fled after crashing an SUV into his wife's motorcycle, causing her death, was never taken into custody and now might have left the country.

"My wife and I had a relationship that most people dream for," said Shouse, who lives in Owasso. "The whole family is in shock, and no one seems to be held accountable for their actions."

On the morning of July 28, Anna Shouse, 46, told her husband that because it was such a beautiful day, she would ride her motorcycle to work.

The administrative assistant at a Tulsa medical clinic shared her husband's passion for riding, and the two occasionally rode their motorcycles on vacation trips.

"She felt very comfortable on a bike, and the enjoyment you get from riding — the wind that blows through your hair," Bob Shouse said. "She was very competent, not an amateur."

Anna Shouse was riding south on North Mingo Road about 6:30 a.m. when a man, later identified as Pedro Urquta Contreras, made an illegal left turn onto Mingo, and the sport utility vehicle he was driving struck Shouse's motorcycle, according to a Tulsa Police Department traffic collision report.

A witness told police that after the collision, Contreras slowed down and looked back but drove on, reports show.

In the middle of the street, Shouse lay unconscious with head trauma and severe leg injuries.

She was taken to St. John Medical Center, where she survived on a respirator for the next four days.

Doctors told Bob Shouse on Aug. 1 that his wife's vital organs were dying and that organ transplants were not a possibility. They were unable to save her.

For Bob Shouse, who has investigated his share of gruesome crime scenes as both a fire chief and a police officer in Owasso in the 1970s and '80s, the hardest thing he has ever done is tell doctors that it was time to "turn that respirator off," he said.

Since his wife's death, he has been troubled as to why no arrest was made.

Less than 24 hours after the accident, Contreras called the police to his apartment and admitted hitting the motorcycle and leaving the scene where Anna Shouse was lying in the road, police reports show.

Leaving the scene of an accident, regardless of the severity of injuries, is a felony, Tulsa Police Detective Alan Franks said, yet Contreras was not arrested.

Shouse's eyes fill with tears as he tries to understand why Contreras was not booked into jail after admitting to the crime.

"In my years of law enforcement, the first thing you do is put the handcuffs on them," he said. "He left the scene of an accident with a person lying in the street."

Franks said the decision about whether to arrest Contreras "was up to the discretion of the officer" who took the report.

A Tulsa police report signed by Officer Demario Gay says that when Contreras was interviewed by police at his home, he told them he had left the scene of the accident because "he was afraid."

When asked why Contreras was not arrested, Gay said he was not present when Contreras admitted to leaving the scene and that it was his understanding that another officer had gone to get an affidavit that would have allowed police to make the arrest.

Gay said he did not know who that officer was.

The police report shows that Contreras, through the help of an interpreter, told police at his home that "he had no valid American driver's license."

Bob Shouse said police told him that the SUV that Contreras was driving that day did not belong to him and that Contreras' automobile insurance documents were bogus.

Franks said a warrant for Contreras' arrest is pending, but Shouse is not optimistic that the man who is responsible for killing his wife will ever be behind bars.

Police have told him that they suspect that Contreras has fled to Mexico, where they believe he is from, Shouse said.

Franks said he "can't confirm or deny that."

The lack of information coming from police has frustrated Shouse.

"I am not going to sit here and think my case is the only one, because it is not," he said. "But if their workload is so heavy, we need more officers."

What Shouse wants is justice.

He also needs time to recover from the pain that comes from losing a loved one, he said.

A home that once was filled with companionship has been replaced with sorrow and loneliness.

"I sit around the house, and it's quiet," he said. "It's not supposed to be that way, and it's emotional.

"It's devastating to lose a family member like that."



http://www.tulsaworld.com/news/article. ... 5&allcom=1

Lets watch and see how this story develops sooner or later IA crime
will impact the family of a member of congress.

When asked why Contreras was not arrested, Gay said he was not present when Contreras admitted to leaving the scene and that it was his understanding that another officer had gone to get an affidavit that would have allowed police to make the arrest.

Gay said he did not know who that officer was.

Why does an officer need an affidavit to make an arrest? And I would assume that if you appear in a case, you should know who the fellow officers are working the case. There is something that definitely stinks here.

Why does an officer need an affidavit to make an arrest?

My very question.

Is it me, or are they really coming up with some 'creative' reasons for nto enforcing the law?

My very question.

Is it me, or are they really coming up with some 'creative' reasons for nto enforcing the law?

Sure seems that way.

Originally Posted by vortex

When asked why Contreras was not arrested, Gay said he was not present when Contreras admitted to leaving the scene and that it was his understanding that another officer had gone to get an affidavit that would have allowed police to make the arrest.

Gay said he did not know who that officer was.

Why does an officer need an affidavit to make an arrest? And I would assume that if you appear in a case, you should know who the fellow officers are working the case. There is something that definitely stinks here.

I was asking myself the very same thing. I've never heard of an affadavit being needed to make an arrest when, during the course of an investigation and report taken from the suspect, that suspect admits to the wrongdoing.

As far as I know, an affadavit would only be necessary when someone else identifies a suspect and the officers need to obtain a warrant for that person's arrest?

Police - can put an individual in jail for how long without charges?

And this man admitted hitting Mrs. Shouse, what more did he need?

Was there two police officers that went to the Contreras' house? No radio communication records are available. Please.

Everyone should be required to go to jail, the Captain of Police or Sheriff Department should be called always.

When in doubt BOOK EVERYONE!

So far 39 comments at the newspaper story link

http://www.tulsaworld.com/news/article. ... 5&allcom=1

Alipacers???? lets leave comment on this outrage at the link

Less than 24 hours after the accident, Contreras called the police to his apartment and admitted hitting the motorcycle and leaving the scene where Anna Shouse was lying in the road, police reports show.

The police should have hancuffed him right then and there! Admission of guilt is all they needed to arrest this illegal immigrant. There is no excuse. This needs a full investigation and the officers who messed this up should be fired.

America-- call, email, fax, visit, beg, and harrass your representatives. TELL THEM WE WANT ILLEGAL ALIENS FOUND AND DEPORTED BEFORE SOMEONE ELSE GETS KILLED BY THEM.

Fatal hit-and-run suspect arrested

by: MARY BISHOP World Assistant City Editor
9/8/2008 12:00 AM

A man who reportedly admitted leaving the scene of a fatal traffic accident in July was arrested on felony charges Monday.

Pedro Urquta Contreras, 37, was booked into the Tulsa Jail about 5:30 p.m. on charges of leaving the scene of a fatal accident, running a red light and driving without a license, records show.

Assistant District Attorney Steve Kunzweiler said a police detective submitted an affidavit requesting the charges Monday.

The Tulsa World had reported in Saturday’s editions that Contreras had admitted to police less than 24 hours after the July 28 crash that killed Anna Shouse, 46, that he had hit her motorcycle and then left the scene of the accident.

Police said he made an illegal left turn and struck her motorcycle at Pine Street and Mingo Road. Shouse, who was left lying in the street after the crash, died at a hospital four days later.

Her husband, Bob Shouse, said last week that he couldn’t understand why Contreras was not arrested immediately when he allegedly admitted his role in the hit-and-run.

A police report shows that Contreras, through the help of an interpreter, also told police that “he had no valid American driver’s license,â€