Thread: MA- Police killing of immigrant challenged

Police killing of immigrant challenged
Friend speaks out; DA investigating
By John R. Ellement and Michael Levenson
Globe Staff / July 29, 2008
YARMOUTH - As outraged family members denounced the use of deadly force and as fear reverberated through Cape Cod's Brazilian community, investigators reviewed yesterday the frantic moments of an early-morning traffic stop, trying to determine whether a Yarmouth police officer was justified in killing an undocumented house painter from Brazil.

Andre L. Martins, 25, was killed by a single gunshot to the heart and lungs after fleeing Officer Christopher Van Ness at about 1 a.m. Sunday, according to Cape and Islands District Attorney Michael D. O'Keefe. Van Ness opened fire after Martins, his car apparently boxed in on a neighborhood lawn, rammed the cruiser in an attempt to flee, O'Keefe said.

With new details yesterday came even more questions, and authorities said they needed time to untangle the events and cautioned against quick judgments.

"We don't jump to conclusions," O'Keefe said in a telephone interview. "We have an investigation, and we allow that investigation to be completed."

Camila Campos, Martins's girlfriend and the mother of his 5-year-old daughter and 2-year-old son, was in the passenger seat at the time of the shooting and was not harmed, O'Keefe said.

Campos, 25, said she avoided being shot by ducking in the car. She told the Brazilian newspaper Folha Online yesterday: "The police officer who blocked the street got out of the car, appeared in the open window, and started to shoot." He fired three times, she said.

Campos consulted a lawyer yesterday and said she would take legal action.

"He didn't have any time to defend himself," she told Folha Online. "The officer who shot at Andre acted wrongly. He should have shot at the tires."

Last night at her home in Yarmouth, Campos held up the couple's 2-year-old boy and said, "See what they took away. My son didn't deserve to have his father taken away."

Van Ness, 34, a three-year veteran of the Police Department who previously served in the Harwich Police Department, was placed on administrative leave with pay yesterday. O'Keefe said Van Ness was an "exemplary officer" who was upset about the tragedy.

Martins's father, Luiz Carlos de Castro Martins, a reserve police officer in Brazil, told Folha that his son may have been afraid to stop because he was not in the United States legally. Court records indicate that Martins's work visa had expired, although O'Keefe declined to comment on Martins's immigration status.

"They have to think before they act, to be more cautious," de Castro Martins said. "I know that the situation is difficult, but you can't simply shoot at someone."

One of Martins's friends, Alex Kovalski, said he had talked to Martins Friday after the Yarmouth man was arrested by Barnstable police on charges of driving without a license and driving to endanger. According to court records, officers on bicycles had spotted Martins driving recklessly through heavy traffic and causing several cars to brake suddenly.

Page 2 of 2 --Kovalski said Martins was terrified of being arrested again and deported to Brazil.

Graphic Chase and fatal shooting
"He was so afraid," he said. "He was so scared of getting taken away."

Registry records show that Martins was not licensed to drive in Massachusetts. His application was denied in 2005 because he had problems with his driving record in New York, including driving while uninsured and failing to report for a hearing.

Barnstable court records show that Martins had three criminal cases scheduled to go to court next month. In July 2007, he was charged with threatening to commit murder, operating a motor vehicle without a license, and leaving the scene of an auto accident.

Those charges were filed after police said Martins rammed Campos's car in a bank parking lot and drove off. At the time, Campos told police that Martins had recently broken off their relationship and called her on her cellphone, threatening to kill her.

"I know I was wrong," Martins later told Yarmouth police, according to court records. "I shouldn't have done it. I just got so mad when I saw my girlfriend in the mall with another guy, I hit her car. I shouldn't have hit it, but I was so mad, I just hit it hard."

In June, Yarmouth police said they stopped Martins for running a red light. During the stop, Martins gave the officer a Brazilian driver's license and was arrested on a charge of operating with a suspended license.

Sunday's chase began when Van Ness saw a dark car allegedly speeding from the Bayview Beach parking lot near the Yarmouth/Hyannis line. Van Ness pursued the car, catching up with Martins's black Lincoln Continental on Harbor Road, O'Keefe said.

Van Ness drove behind the Lincoln, which sped off, reaching speeds that witnesses later estimated at 80 to 90 miles per hour, O'Keefe said.

Van Ness turned on his flashing blue lights as Martins turned onto Baxter Avenue and allegedly headed toward several police cruisers parked at the end of the street that were blocking the entrance to Route 28.

He turned left into a yard, attempted to make a U-turn, and struck Van Ness's cruiser, O'Keefe said. It was not clear whether Van Ness was inside, O'Keefe added.

At some point in the encounter, Van Ness got out of his cruiser and fired multiple shots, killing Martins. Paramedics found a marijuana cigarette in Martins's mouth, O'Keefe said. Police did not find any firearms in his car.

Martins's friends described him as a doting father.

"He was a great guy, very nice and very dedicated to his kids," said Cristina Rivera, a former neighbor. "He had a dirt bike and would take his kids on rides around the yard. And when the kids had birthdays, he would throw these huge parties."

Yesterday at Intercontinental, a Brazilian market in Hyannis, a flier on the door demanded justice for Martins. Campos had stopped by the store earlier, weeping and asking for help, and the owner was collecting money to send Martins's body to Brazil for burial.

Fausto da Rocha, executive director of the Brazilian Immigrant Center in Allston, said many immigrants are worried that Van Ness will not be held accountable because Martins was an illegal immigrant.

"A lot of people in the community are upset and sad for what happened because these people came to the United States trying to build a better life," da Rocha said yesterday. "Now, more and more people are going to be afraid when the police stop them, that they can be shot."

Brian Ballou of the Globe staff contributed to this report.

© Copyright 2008 Globe Newspaper Company.


http://www.boston.com/news/local/massac ... ed/?page=2

When are Americans going to get mad enough to stop this insanity? DUI and driving without a license, crashing a car into another one because of anger, etc. "He didn't have time to defend himself." What? Is that because there was a gun in the car? If Ms. Campos is deported, lets make sure she takes her kids with her.

Looks like a case of Latin temper getting out of control. No amount of investigating will offset a death, but a bit of self control, following the law, and respect for legal authority would have made things turn out much better for this Latino.

Yesterday at Intercontinental, a Brazilian market in Hyannis, a flier on the door demanded justice for Martins. Campos had stopped by the store earlier, weeping and asking for help, and the owner was collecting money to send Martins's body to Brazil for burial.

Fausto da Rocha, executive director of the Brazilian Immigrant Center in Allston, said many immigrants are worried that Van Ness will not be held accountable because Martins was an illegal immigrant.

"A lot of people in the community are upset and sad for what happened because these people came to the United States trying to build a better life," da Rocha said yesterday. "Now, more and more people are going to be afraid when the police stop them, that they can be shot."

Too bad, so sad, maybe when illegal aliens start obeying our laws and stop killing our cops and citizens?!?!?

If he hadn't rammed the cruiser, intending harm to the officer, what did he think was going to happen?! How many cops have been killed by illegal aliens deliberately hitting them with their cars?

I demand justice for US citizens and police officers killed by illegal aliens!

This was the rant I was going to send to the paper!

What is the deal? People here illegally need to obey the law and go back to their home countries. The American people don't owe the poor of the world a better life! What price are the citizens of America expected to pay for their better life? Here in Calif we have limited water resources, now we have to ration water so the 10 to 20 million legal and illegal aliens can have a better life. Lower wages, higher taxes, crowded schools where English is a second language, overcrowded jails, parks trashed, streets filled with drivers with no accountably to the law. In the 70's we were told not to have to more than two children to curb population growth. Now the growth for profit bunch has allowed millions of uneducated illegal third worlders to populate it for us. You damm right I'm madd and not at the poor people who think they have rights, but the greedy people who control this country. So don't think I'm going to feel sorry for someone who if they obeyed the law would have not been here in the first place.

When are the Americans going to stand up and yell? It seems this country has become so complacent--what happened to those angry protestors over the Vietnam war? Oh sorry. The media seems to only cover protests by pro-illegals, according to their corporate parent whims.