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  1. #1
    Senior Member Brian503a's Avatar
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    Dumanis: Vista Deputy-Involved Fatal Shootings Justified

    http://www.10news.com

    Dumanis: Vista Deputy-Involved Fatal Shootings Justified
    District Attorney Finds No Criminal Liability In Each Case


    POSTED: 5:46 pm PDT July 5, 2006
    UPDATED: 6:52 pm PDT July 5, 2006

    VISTA, Calif. -- Three separate deputy-involved fatal shootings that occurred over a five-day period in Vista last summer were justified, San Diego County District Attorney Bonnie Dumanis said Wednesday.

    Dumanis said she decided to become personally involved with the independent review by her office because of community concerns over the shootings.

    "I have issued findings of no criminal liability in each case," Dumanis told reporters.

    Dumanis said she took the unusual step of releasing the reports directly to the media so that people would understand what went into her review.

    "When people are concerned and upset, they deserve an explanation," Dumanis said. "We did not want to just release the information -- the letters -- and be done with it."

    Since the three men who were killed were Hispanic and the shootings happened in a short period of time, Dumanis said she wanted to make sure that "no stone was left unturned."

    "These deputies did not commit a crime," Dumanis said.

    Dumanis said the three fatal shootings bore striking similarities to each other in that each suspect tested positive for being under the influence of methamphetamine and each had criminal histories.

    "All of the suspects might be alive today if they had complied with the deputies' orders to surrender," Dumanis said.

    She said use of force was justified in the fatal shooting of 32-year-old Sergio Vasquez on July 28, 2005.

    Vasquez, an undocumented day laborer, came at three deputies with two 10-pound dumbbells when they responded to a woman's call that he was threatening her at a residence on North Citrus Avenue, Dumanis said.

    Vasquez, who initially refused orders to come out of the home, was pepper-sprayed when he threw a dumbbell at Deputy John Spach, who fired at the suspect along with Deputy Shawn Aitken, according to investigators.

    The next day, 26-year-old Jorge Ramirez, a documented gang member, was shot and killed by a sheriff's deputy on Lupine Hills Drive.

    Dumanis said Deputy Mark Ritchie, his radio battery running low, came upon a vehicle he thought may have been involved in an earlier robbery at a Circle K store.

    Three Hispanic males, including Ramirez, took off running. Dumanis' letter to the sheriff quoted Ritchie as saying he believed Ramirez "was running for his life. He was not going to stop and give up."

    As he continued running, Ritchie said he saw Ramirez reach toward his front waistband with his right hand.

    The deputy said he "felt (Ramirez) was going to grab whatever weapon he had to engage me. I didn't put it past that guy to kill me to get away. And the last thing I wanted was for him to stop and turn around and engage me because ... I was alone ... If I would've got shot, I wouldn't have been able to radio for help ... It's a dangerous situation by not having a communication device on you ... and I was completely outnumbered."

    Ritchie said he fired a round at Ramirez, but the suspect kept running so he fired more rounds, and the suspect finally fell to the ground.

    On Aug. 1, 2005, two deputies went to 830 Newport Drive in Vista to contact a 22-year-old man known to them as "Chuey," whose real name was Jesus Eduardo Manzo.

    When deputies arrived, Manzo ran from them with what appeared to be a firearm on his right hip. They subsequently spotted him running through backyards in the neighborhood, and one deputy pointed a rifle at the suspect and ordered him to stop.

    Manzo jumped onto a fence, and Deputy Lewis Schott said he saw the suspect reach into his waistband.

    "And, I'm like he, he's going to, he's going to pull this thing on me, and he's going to shoot me," Schott is quoted as saying in the report.

    Schott fired one shot that struck Manzo in the chest.
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  2. #2
    Senior Member Brian503a's Avatar
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    http://www.nbcsandiego.com/news/9473822/detail.html

    DA Clears Deputies In Fatal Shootings
    3 Men Died In 5 Days In Vista In 2005


    POSTED: 3:46 pm PDT July 5, 2006
    UPDATED: 7:16 pm PDT July 5, 2006

    SAN DIEGO -- The San Diego County District Attorney says three fatal deputy-involved shootings that took place last summer were all justified.

    The men were shot to death in Vista in a five-day period.

    Sergio Vasquez was killed July 28 after allegedly hurling a 10-pound dumbbell at a deputy. The following day, robbery suspect Jorge Ramirez was shot by an officer who thought he was reaching for a gun. That weapon turned out to be a fake.

    Then, on Aug. 1, Jesus Eduardo was killed. He allegedly resisted attempts by authorities to question him about a stolen vehicle.

    On Wednesday, District Attorney Bonnie Dumanis revealed the results of the investigation. She said that the men who were killed were all high on drugs and that in each case deputies had reason to believe that their lives were threatened or that they could suffer great bodily harm.

    "Toxicology reports reveal that all [three men] had methamphetamine in their systems," said Dumanis. "One suspect not only had methamphetamine but also morphine and marijuana, too. All of the suspects had criminal histories. Two were career criminals known to carry weapons. All of the suspects might be alive today if they had complied with a deputy's order to surrender."

    Dumanis said she left no stone unturned in her office's independent investigation, and, in three separate letters sent to the sheriff, her office cleared all four deputies involved in the shootings.

    Because the men who were killed were all Latino, the shootings prompted charges from some in Vista of racial profiling. Dumanis said she personally took part in an independent review of each shooting and that her conclusion was that they were three separate cases.

    She also said that a language barrier was not an issue, either. Two of the men spoke fluent English, according to Dumanis, and the third was given instruction in Spanish.

    Finally, Dumanis said that the use of deadly force was justified in all three cases, that the use of deadly force was justified and that the deputies involved bear no criminal liability for their actions.
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  3. #3
    Senior Member Brian503a's Avatar
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    http://www.signonsandiego.com

    Deputies justified in deaths, DA finds

    By Kristina Davis and Joe Hughes
    UNION-TRIBUNE STAFF WRITERS
    July 6, 2006


    District Attorney Bonnie Dumanis said the outcry and unprecedented nature of three deadly shootings by Vista deputies within five days last summer prompted her to personally become involved in the investigations.
    “I wanted to make sure that no stone was left unturned,” Dumanis said yesterday in a news conference announcing her findings.

    All four deputies who shot the three Latino men were legally justified in their use of deadly force, Dumanis said.

    “The deputies bear no criminal liability in each case,” she said. “The suspects probably would be alive today had they complied with deputies to surrender.”

    The shootings spawned community outrage, allegations of racism by human rights activists and the formation of an independent use-of-force study of the Sheriff's Department.

    Yesterday, some local activists and Vista residents said they were disappointed by the district attorney's findings.

    “It's hard to believe that they're not charging the police for that,” said Marisol Serrano, 19, who lives in the predominantly Latino Townsite neighborhood where two of the shootings occurred. “Some people will get mad, angry.”

    The decision didn't surprise most. Only two officers have faced criminal charges for on-duty shootings in the county in at least 25 years.

    Dumanis' findings, sent to Sheriff Bill Kolender in a letter yesterday, go into great detail about the circumstances surrounding the deaths. In the case of Jorge Ramirez, 26, the letter was an unusually long nine pages.

    “The three separate shootings had striking similarities,” Dumanis said. “All three men tested positive for illegal drugs; all had methamphetamine in their system; one had meth and also morphine and marijuana; all had criminal histories and two were career criminals known to carry weapons.”

    Dumanis said one of the men threw a dumbbell at the officers; two others were running away. None carried a gun, although one had a multipurpose tool similar to a Leatherman in his pocket.

    In the Ramirez shooting July 29, deputies tried to pull over three men in a Jeep on Lupine Hills Drive after an armed robbery of a Circle K store.

    A woman also was following in a car behind the Jeep.

    Two of the men ran into a dark park. Deputy Mark Ritchie followed Ramirez, who was driving the Jeep. During the chase, Ramirez kept reaching into his waistband for what Ritchie believed to be a gun.

    The object was a folding knife.

    Dumanis said one of the suspects did fire a shot at the deputy.

    “During this highly intense chase with bullets flying, the female began driving toward the deputy,” Dumanis said. “Alone, fearing for his life, the deputy shot the suspect.”

    Dumanis said the deputy also was struggling with his radio transmission and did not have a working flashlight.

    Ritchie told investigators that he was in survival mode.

    “If I get shot and something happens to me, there's no one coming to save me. I have nothing,” he said in a statement to investigators.

    In the first shooting, a day earlier, deputies had gone to a house in the Townsite neighborhood after two men reported that their roommate was acting strangely.

    Sergio Garcia-Vasquez, 32, was in his bedroom when confronted. After deputies Shawn Aitken and John Spach used pepper spray, the man threw a dumbbell at Spach and both deputies fired at him.

    Jesus Eduardo Manzo, 23, was the last of the three killed. Manzo was in front of his family home Aug. 1 when deputies arrived to question him about a stolen car and whether he was named in a anti-gang injunction.

    Dumanis said Manzo ran, and deputies chased him with the help of a police dog. She said that when he climbed a fence he reached for his hip, and Deputy Lewis Schott fired once.

    “I end up face to face with this guy and I'm like, you know, holy cow, he's going to try to shoot me, 'cause he made no attempt to give up,” Schott told investigators.

    Kolender, in a separate news conference yesterday, said the district attorney's findings accurately reflected “the issues and concerns” of the three incidents.

    “Tragically, the profession is not risk-free,” he said. “The consequences are profoundly felt by survivors, victims, deputies and their families.”

    Kolender said the next step will be for his department to begin its administrative review of tactics and training. Simultaneously, and for the first time in the department's history, an independent review will be conducted.

    The independent review will examine “how we do business and how we employ use of force,” Kolender said.

    “We think we are doing it right,” he said. “We want to make sure we are doing it right.”

    Word of the findings spread fast among Vista deputies yesterday afternoon, said Capt. Ed Prendergast, commander of the Vista station.

    Each of the deputies involved in the shootings was personally informed that he was cleared of criminal wrongdoing.

    “I'm sure they're feeling relieved, as you can certainly imagine when in a situation like that,” Prendergast said. “Until the official word comes in, you're always feeling a little uneasy.”

    Sheriff's officials are not anticipating any trouble with protests, but extra deputies will be patrolling the streets in the days to come.

    A daylong event already had been planned for July 29 at Townsite Park to recognize the one-year anniversary of the shootings.

    Organizer Tina Jillings, who co-founded the Coalition for Justice, Peace and Dignity in response to the shootings, said her group wanted more of an explanation for the incidents.

    “We would have appreciated the truth,” Jillings said. “We would have appreciated action.”

    Tammy Crawford, 47, said she would expect fairness in the situation for both sides – the three Latino men and the deputies. If there isn't enough evidence, Crawford said, it wouldn't be fair to seek charges.

    Vista Mayor Morris Vance and Councilman Frank Lopez declined to comment until they read the report.

    Attorney Daniel Hitzke, who is representing the Manzo family in its lawsuit against the Sheriff's Department, warned the family earlier not to expect criminal charges from the District Attorney's Office.

    Still, Hitzke said, the mother of Manzo's baby was “a bit dismayed” when she heard the news.

    Staff writer Matt Rodriguez contributed to this report.

    --------------------------------------------------------------------------------
    Kristina Davis: (760) 476-8233; kristina.davis@uniontrib.com


    --------------------------------------------------------------------------------
    Joe Hughes: (619) 542-4591; joe.hughes@uniontrib.com
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  4. #4
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    http://www.nctimes.com/articles/2006/07 ... 7_6_06.txt

    Community response mixed after deputies cleared in Vista shootings

    By: STACY BRANDT - Staff Writer

    VISTA ---- As news spread Thursday that no charges would be filed against Sheriff's Department deputies involved in three fatal shootings last summer, Vista community members had mixed reactions.

    Some activists for Latino rights complained that District Attorney Bonnie Dumanis' decision not to press criminal charges against the deputies was tantamount to a cover-up, while other Vista residents expressed support for the decision and the deputies involved.

    Deputies shot and killed three suspects in a five-day span last summer, sparking allegations of racism and use of excessive force. All of the men were Latino.

    Regardless of their opinion of the announcement by Dumanis on Wednesday that the men would not be charged, few saw the news as a surprise.

    "It's not surprising," said Ricardo Favela, a member of the Coalition for Justice, Peace and Dignity, a local activist group formed last year in response to the shootings. "It's what we've been hearing this whole time ---- because they ran, they deserved to be shot. It's what we've been hearing from the city. It's what we've been hearing from the general community.

    "I guess running from an officer allows for a death penalty," he added.

    Dick Eiden, another member of the coalition, called the district attorney's decision an "injustice," and said the outcry was not simply from the Latino community.

    "Of course, everyone is concerned," said Eiden, who is white. "I think it's an issue of fundamental justice."

    However, Townsite resident Dennis Dudek said that members of the coalition don't speak for everybody in the predominantly Latino neighborhood in which two of the three shootings happened.

    "I think a lot of people just like to make more out of stuff than there is," he said.

    Dudek said he thinks the Sheriff's Department does a good job in the Townsite area, though he'd like to see more deputies patrolling the streets. Vista doesn't have its own police department and contracts with the San Diego County Sheriff's Department for law enforcement.

    Vista resident Richard LaBarge said he hopes the district attorney's decision will bring some closure to the incidents and convince the public that the deputies were doing their job properly.

    "I think the cops need to do their job, and if it involves shooting, then they should feel that they have the right to do it," he said. "I think they ought to use force whenever they think it's appropriate."

    After the shootings, some community members complained about a lack of deputies who speak Spanish in a city with such a large Spanish-speaking population.

    The Vista Sheriff's Station is working to bring in more Spanish-speaking deputies and to reach out to Latinos, said Capt. Ed Prendergast.

    "It's a concern with the Sheriff's Department also," he said.

    Though there is currently only one Spanish-speaking patrol deputy in Vista, three more are expected to start this month, Prendergast said. The department also recently decided to enroll some personnel in a six-week Spanish-immersion program and will give patrolling deputies phrase books to help communicate with Spanish speakers.

    "People should know that we're committed to the community," Prendergast said. "We are committed to all of the community, and that includes the Latino community."

    In general, the community has been very supportive of the district attorney's decision, Prendergast said.

    Favela, the coalition member, said he thinks the decision will only infuriate the Latino community more.

    "It basically tells us that the cops have a license to shoot us whenever they feel they need to," he said. "It's a very cold feeling."

    The tension could be eased if the Sheriff's Department would enter into an open dialogue with the community, Favela said.

    "We're willing to speak to them," he said. "Even if we're emotional, at least we're speaking to them, but it doesn't seem like there's any willingness to hear what our community has to say."

    After the shootings, the Sheriff's Department and Vista held a community forum, at which many community members angrily voiced their frustrations and demanded answers to questions about the incidents. No more meetings have been planned.

    LaBarge said he thinks it's important that the deputies work to ease tension, but added that public safety should always be their top priority.

    "I think they should do all they can to reach out, but I also think that the community should feel that they're going to be safe," he said, "and if the police can't use lethal force when they need to, then that's going to be a bad thing."

    Contact staff writer Stacy Brandt at (760) 631-6622 or sbrandt@nctimes.com.
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