Reckless Driver Leads Police on Chase Pursuit ends in Officer Involved Shooting NR12172as

April 19, 2012
UPDATE

The officers involved in the officer-involved-shooting that occurred on April 11, 2012 on the 101 Freeway have been identified as: Devonshire Area; Police Officer III Robert Chavira, Serial No. 31281, Police Officer II Robert Luna, Serial No. 32963, Police Officer I Jose Anzora, Serial No. 40848, Police Officer III Daniel Bunch, Serial No. 37019, Police Officer II Dexter Barras, Serial No. 38028, Police Officer II Gary Hansen, Serial No. 39218, Sergeant I Roy Guthrie, Serial No. 26211, and Valley Traffic Division; Police Officer II Ryan Shaffer, Serial No. 38771.

Los Angeles: A 19-year-old reckless driver led police on a lengthy car chase, resulting in an officer-involved shooting.

On April 11th at about 9:45 p.m., a 19 year-old man committed a traffic violation in the Northridge area of Los Angeles.  Los Angeles Police Officers (LAPD) observed the traffic violation and attempted to stop the man to issue a traffic citation.  The driver failed to stop, and led police officers on a high speed pursuit on surface streets and on the 101 Freeway.   During the course of the pursuit, the suspect committed multiple traffic violations, and endangered the public by driving without regard to public safety.

While being pursued by the LAPD officers, the suspect called 911 and engaged in a lengthy conversation with the 911 operator.  Among the statements he made were:

“I have a gun.” “I’ve been arrested before for possession of destructive devices, I’m not afraid of the cops.”“If they pull their guns, I’m gonna have to pull my gun out on them.”

The 911 dispatcher implored the suspect to stop, telling him, “I don’t want you to hurt yourself.”  
The suspect responded, “I’m not gonna get hurt S—head, F— these police, they’re gonna get hurt”.

The pursuit terminated on the 101 Freeway near Canoga Avenue, when the suspect initiated the stop with the officers.  The suspect picked both the time and place for this tragic incident to occur.

Immediately upon exiting his car, the suspect took what appeared to be an aggressive “shooting stance” several times, extending his arms out, and pointing an unknown object at the officers. This caused the officer at the scene to believe he was armed with a handgun.

Contrary to the suspect’s statements to the 911 operator, and contrary to his actions at the scene, the preliminary investigation indicates he did not have a gun at the time the Officer Involved Shooting occurred.

Incidents involving Officer Involved Shootings are investigated by the LAPD’s Force Investigation Division, and are the most detailed and comprehensive Officer Involved Shooting investigations in the nation.

Force Investigation Division responded to the incident and will conduct a thorough investigation of the officer-involved shooting and all related crimes.   The investigation will ultimately be reviewed by the Chief of Police, the Office of the Inspector General and Board of Police Commissioners for compliance with the Department’s use-of-force policy which states that an officer’s use-of-force actions must be objectively reasonable.

Anyone with information about this incident is urged to call the FID at 213-486-5230. During non-business hours or on weekends, calls should be directed to 1-877-LAPD-24-7 (877-527-3247).  Anyone wishing to remain anonymous should call Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-TIPS (800-222-8477). Tipsters may also contact Crime Stoppers by texting to phone number 274637 (C-R-I-M-E-S on most keypads) with a cell phone.  All text messages should begin with the letters “LAPD.”  Tipsters may also go to LAPDOnline.org, click on "webtips" and follow the prompts.