One Person Dead From Border Patrol-Involved Shooting In Chula Vista

Witnesses Tell a Different Story of Chula Vista Woman Shot by Border Patrol

By TED HESSON
October 1, 2012


http://a.abcnews.com/images/US/abc_g..._120930_wg.jpgA Border Patrol agent fatally shot a 32-year-old mother of five on Sept. 28, 2012, in suburban San Diego as he rode on the hood of her car after she ran into him, authorities and family members said. (ABC News)

A Border Patrol agent shot and killed a 32-year-old woman in Chula Vista, California, on Friday, but some witness accounts of the fatal shooting differ from those of the government agency.

According to Border Patrol, the agent fired into the windshield of Valeria Alvarado's car after she hit him with her vehicle and drove several hundred feet with the agent on the hood. "Fearing for his life, he discharged his weapon to get the vehicle to stop," Border Patrol Deputy Chief Rodney Scott told U-T San Diego.

At the time of the encounter, the agent was in the process of serving a felony warrant, but the warrant was not for Alvarado. It remains unclear why Alvarado struck the agent. He was dressed in plainclothes and at least one witness near the scene did not see his badge displayed.

After the shooting, U-T San Diego reported conflicting accounts from witnesses. One man recalled seeing the agent on the hood as he pulled the trigger, while several others said differently.

Ayanna Evans, 19, who lives in a neighboring apartment complex, said she never saw the agent on the car.

She said she happened to look out the window to see the Honda backing up slowly, and a man in a red shirt walking toward the car.

"Then I heard, 'Pop, pop, pop,'" she said. She yelled at her children and aunt with her in the apartment to get down.

Apartment resident Prince Watson said he also saw the driver going in reverse, with no one on the car.

"She wasn't speeding or driving erratic at all. I heard the agent say, 'Stop.' He was in the street and started shooting and walking toward the car," Watson recalled.

The mother of five died at the scene and, according to witnesses, had bullet wounds to the face, arms and chest. Following standard operating procedure, the incident is under investigation by U.S. Customs and Border Protection, the FBI and the Chula Vista Police Department.

Witnesses Tell a Different Story of Chula Vista Woman Shot by Border Patrol - ABC News

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He was dressed in plainclothes and at least one witness near the scene did not see his badge displayed.

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I wonder if this poor woman thought she was being carjacked and was just trying to get away..

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Family of woman killed by border agent wants answers | UTSanDiego.com

Police: Woman shot by border agent tried to flee

Written by Kristina Davis

5:42 p.m., Oct. 2, 2012
Updated 8:01 p.m.

CHULA VISTA — A woman who was fatally shot by a U.S. Border Patrol agent after hitting him with her car had moments earlier been in an apartment known for drug activity where the agents were trying to arrest a felon, according to new details released by Chula Vista police Tuesday.

Police said Valeria “Munique” Tachiquin Alvarado, 32, struck the agent Friday as she pulled the car away from the curb. A second agent reached into her Honda to remove the keys from the ignition, and she pulled forward and struck the first agent again, this time driving with him on the car’s hood.

The agent, fearing for his life, yelled “Stop!” and then pulled out his gun, firing several rounds to halt the car, officials said.

Alvarado, a married mother of five, was on probation for a 2011 drug-related conviction, police said.

The information from police provides the first detailed look at how the incident unfolded, and aimed to address the questions of family members and residents who doubted the Border Patrol’s initial account.

Several people in the area witnessed parts of the incident, though some of their accounts differed.

The Border Patrol declined to comment Tuesday, citing the ongoing investigation.

According to police, who are leading the investigation into the shooting, a group of plainclothes agents went to an apartment on Moss Street near Oaklawn Avenue shortly before 1 p.m. with an arrest warrant for a felon who had been previously deported and had a history of drug charges.

The unit was known to have prior complaints of drug activity, police Capt. Gary Wedge said.

Alvarado was one of several people inside the apartment when four of the agents approached and identified themselves as law enforcement, Wedge said.

She replied that the man they wanted was in the shower in back, then she brushed past the agents and walked toward her car, Wedge said.

The agents alerted two other agents who were guarding the perimeter of the apartment, and they tried to stop her as she got into her Honda. She struck one of them with the car as she started to pull away, police said.

The agent, who wore a badge on his belt, told her she was under arrest for vehicular assault, while a second agent with a badge around his neck smashed the driver’s side window and tried to remove the keys, Wedge said.

Alvarado struck the first agent again, driving west on Moss with him on her hood, investigators said.

Witnesses told police that she was going about 25 mph, and at one point drove through oncoming traffic while attempting to pass another vehicle. Witnesses said the agent appeared scared and yelled “Stop.”

After driving about 200 yards, she made a turning maneuver near Oaklawn. It was at that time that a witness told police the agent drew his weapon and fired multiple rounds through the windshield, Wedge said.

When the car stopped in the middle of the street, the agents attempted first aid until medics arrived, but she died at the scene.

Alvarado was shot nine times, said San Diego attorney Eugene Iredale, who has been hired by the family.

The agent, whose name neither police nor the Border Patrol has made public, was taken to a hospital for unknown injuries and later released. Wedge said the agent has several years of law enforcement experience.

The wanted felon never was arrested, authorities said. His name has not been released.

Iredale said Tuesday that the new information has “raised more questions than answers.”

“Why were they blocking her way? She was not the subject of any warrant. There’s no evidence she committed any crime. She had the right to leave the area,” Iredale said.

The attorney also pointed to the accounts of at least three witnesses who said the agent was standing upright, walking forward toward Alvarado’s car as it went in reverse when the shots were fired.

“The key question is, where was the agent when he fired the fatal shot?” he asked.

The attorney said he plans to conduct an investigation and have witnesses interviewed before the family decides whether to file a lawsuit.

Alvarado’s family members did not return phone calls or emails Tuesday night, after the police released the new details. Police said they told her brother earlier in the day about their findings.

When her father spoke to reporters on Monday, he expressed concern that authorities were going to attack Alvarado’s character, and were “going to want to make my daughter look bad.”

“My daughter was a lovely person, a loving mother, a loving daughter, a good sister. That’s all I can say,” Valentin Tachiquin told reporters. He works as a corrections officer at a women’s prison in Corona.
Alvarado has at least two other criminal cases, from 2004 and 2000, according to court records. Details on those cases were not immediately available.

She lived in Southcrest, although some witnesses told U-T San Diego they saw her Honda often parked on the street at Moss and Oaklawn. Her family said the night of the shooting that they did not know why she was in the neighborhood.

Christian Ramirez, human rights director for Alliance San Diego, said his organization was pleased that the initial investigation has provided some insight into what happened but that many questions remain. The group helped the family organize a news conference Monday morning and a candlelight vigil that night in Chula Vista, which several hundred people attended.

As for Alvarado being in the apartment Friday, Ramirez said, “Our understanding is that she was in the wrong place at the wrong time.”
The FBI and federal Office of the Inspector General is monitoring the investigation. The case is also expected to be submitted to the San Diego County District Attorney’s Office for review.

Police: Woman shot by border agent tried to flee | UTSanDiego.com

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Her family said the night of the shooting that they did not know why she was in the neighborhood.

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With prior drug convictions, being in a known drug house with a known felon, she was obviously up to no good. The BP agents had every right to suspicion and question her.

Sorry, but you are known by the company you keep and this was NOT a "nice, lovely, woman." If she hadn't had the prior run in with the law regarding drugs, I'd say yeah, maybe she was in the wrong place at the wrong time.

She was up to no good.

Mother Shot by Border Patrol Was on Probation, Fleeing Felon's Apartment

By fox5sandiego.com
Published October 03, 2012
Fox News Latino

SAN DIEGO –
Authorities Tuesday night released the first detailed account of the fatal shooting of a woman by a Border Patrol agent last week on a residential street in Chula Vista.

Valeria "Munique" Tachiquin-Alvarado, 32, hit the Border Patrol agent with her car while attempting to flee from an apartment where officers were trying to arrest a felon, Chula Vista police Capt. Gary Wedge said. At the time, Tachiquin-Alvarado was on probation for a 2011 narcotics conviction.

The series of events that led to the fatal shooting began shortly before 1 p.m. Friday, when a group of plainclothes Border Patrol agents went to an apartment in the 600 block of Moss Street to arrest a felon who previously had been deported, Wedge said.

The undercover officers found several people, including Tachiquin-Alvarado, inside the residence and identified themselves as law enforcement officers, according to Wedge. The occupants had been the subjects of prior complaints of illegal drug activity, the captain said.

Shortly after the agents arrived, Tachiquin-Alvarado, a U.S. citizen and mother of five who lived in the Southcrest area of San Diego, answered the door, was questioned, then left the apartment and walked toward a dark-green Honda Accord parked nearby.

Border Patrol personnel who had surrounded the complex contacted her as she got behind the wheel, Wedge said. The woman then allegedly pulled away from the curb, causing the sedan to strike an agent at least once.

The lawman told Tachiquin-Alvarado she was under arrest for vehicular assault as a fellow officer reached through the driver's-side window and tried to remove the ignition key, Wedge said. The car then struck the first agent again, after which Tachiquin-Alvarado allegedly drove off to the west with him perched on the hood of the vehicle.

Witnesses told investigators the Honda was traveling about 25 mph and at one point veered into an oncoming lane as the agent, who appeared fearful, yelled at the woman to stop the car, according to Wedge.

After allegedly driving more than 200 yards, Tachiquin-Alvarado began to make a turn near Oaklawn Avenue. At that point, according to a witness, the agent drew his gun and fired repeatedly into the windshield.

Agents rendered first-aid to Tachiquin-Alvarado prior to the arrival of paramedics, who pronounced her dead at the scene.

The agent who opened fire was later evaluated at a hospital and released. His name has not been released.

In previous public statements, law enforcement officials had described the lawman being struck by the woman's car a single time.

Police said they have witnesses to confirm their version, but others gave Fox 5 a different account.

“I just witnessed the officer walking toward the female’s car. She was backing up and then he discharged his weapon started firing,” said Prince Watson, a witness.

Chula Vista police continue to work with federal agencies "to ensure a comprehensive investigation is completed,'' Wedge said.

"Additionally, witness interviews are pending, while lab personnel are processing physical evidence,'' he said.

The results of the probe will be forwarded to the District Attorney's Office for a ruling on whether the shooting was legally justified.

On Monday, Tachiquin-Alvarado's family held a tearful news conference to protest the circumstances of her death and staged an evening candlelight vigil near the scene of the fatal encounter.
The suspect who agents were originally checking on prior to the shooting has not been arrested.

Mother Shot by Border Patrol Was on Probation, Fleeing Felon's Apartment | Fox News Latino

. . . Serious allegations Sunday from the attorney representing the family of a mother of five who was shot and killed by a border patrol agent. That attorney claims prior to joining the border patrol the agent was fired for misconduct while working for another law enforcement agency.

KUSI's John Soderman reports. . .

VIDEO @ KUSI.com - KUSI News - San Diego CA - News, Weather, PPR - Video Landing Page

Team 10 obtains autopsy details on woman killed by Border Patrol

Munique Tachiquin shot by Agent Justin Tackett

SAN DIEGO - Team 10 has obtained some of the details found in an autopsy report on the woman shot and killed by a Border Patrol agent in Chula Vista in September.

While the San Diego County Medical Examiner's Report has not been made public, the shooting still is under investigation.

The report shows eight bullets fired from Border Patrol Agent Justin Tackett's gun entered Munique Tachiquin's body at a 30-degree angle. The bullets moved left to right, and one bullet entered at a 90-degree angle -- almost vertically into her body.

Team 10's source did not want to be identified but has access to the medical examiner's investigation.

On the day of the shooting, Border Patrol Agent Rodney Scott said Tachiquin was armed with a vehicle.

"The agent was actually impacted and carried several hundred yards on the hood before fearing for his life and did discharge his weapon to get the vehicle to stop," Scott told Team 10 in September.

Some witnesses have told Team 10 they saw Tackett fire from the street.

The new autopsy information gives experts facts to review. World-renowned forensic pathologist Dr. Cyril Wecht reviewed the leaked autopsy details obtained by Team 10.

"The agent could have been on the hood of the car, yes, he certainly could have been on the hood of the car; that would fit in," said Wecht, who has worked on high-media profile cases, such as the Scott Peterson case.

_{The autopsy investigation also found Tachiquin had trace amounts - one-tenth of one milligram -- of methamphetamine in her system when she died. When she died, Tachiquin was on probation for a drug conviction.}

"My own opinion is it's an insignificant level in terms of any substantial change in her personality," Wecht said.

Former San Diego district attorney Paul Pfingst said any amount of meth in her system could hurt Tachiquin's family's civil case against the Border Patrol, creating "suspicion on the mind of a jury."

Wecht also offered his opinion on the nine bullets Tackett fired from what he believes was the hood of Tachiquin's car.

"He could make a lot of good money in Hollywood as a stunt man," Wecht said.













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