Police Commission faults LAPD officer who shot and killed 70-year-old man holding metal pipe2/15/2018 LAPD Chief Charlie Beck, center, shown at a news conference this year, disagreed with the officer's actions and faulted him for not turning on his body camera until after the shooting and not carrying a Taser, violations of department rules. (Gary Coronado / Los Angeles Times) A veteran Los Angeles police officer violated department rules for using deadly force last year when he shot and killed a 70-year-old man holding a pipe in downtown L.A., an oversight panel determined. Siding with Chief Charlie Beck, the Los Angeles Police Commission unanimously faulted Officer Charles Garcia for firing his gun and for some of the tactics he used before pulling the trigger. Several bystanders filmed the March 4 shooting, which happened at a busy intersection — Olympic Boulevard and Broadway — in the middle of the afternoon. Those videos, which show Garcia fire twice at Alejandro Mendez as he stood several feet away, quickly raised questions both inside and outside the LAPD. In his report to the commission, Beck said the decision by Garcia and his partner to "immediately deploy" on Mendez limited the time they had to "assess the situation or consider other tactical options." PAID POSTWhat Is This? How to fix your fatigue (Do this every day)Dr. Gundry reveals the top 3 common foods that you’d never guess are making you tired. Watch Now SEE MORESponsored Content by They could have pulled out a bean-bag shotgun instead, Beck wrote, giving them more room to react to someone who didn't have a gun. Read LAPD Chief Charlie Beck's report on the fatal police shooting of Alejandro Mendez » Beck ultimately placed the responsibility on Garcia, noting his partner was a reserve officer working his first full day in the field. Garcia, who has been with the LAPD for more than 20 years, should have come up with a better plan for resolving the situation "with the least amount of force necessary," the chief wrote. Garcia's name was redacted from a public copy of Beck's report, though the department previously identified him as the only officer who fired his gun during the deadly encounter. The name of the reserve officer, who was cleared of any wrongdoing, has not been released. Larry Hanna, an attorney representing Garcia, said he believed the officers acted appropriately to safeguard bystanders in the area. They first used a Taser to try to subdue Mendez, he said. Mendez, he added, had swung a long metal pipe at others, and the officers believed he continued to pose a threat. "There was no way they could stand by and let this person just swing at civilians," Hanna said. "One hit to the head and the civilian goes down, then the chief or other people would be saying, 'Why didn't they take action? Why didn't they do something?'" Fewer shootings by police — that's the goal of new rules adopted by the L.A. Police Commission APR 18, 2017 | 8:00 PMThe situation unfolded shortly before 12:30 p.m., when the Central Division officers responded to a report of a gray-haired man swinging a pipe outside a Carl's Jr. at Olympic and Main Street. They ultimately found their suspect, later identified as Mendez, about a block away. At least one officer told investigators he saw Mendez swinging a "long stick or pipe" toward people as they approached him, according to Beck's report. Video from the officers' patrol car showed Mendez "jabbing" the pole as he stepped toward a security officer, who then stepped backward and moved a bike to keep Mendez away, the report said. LAPD officers expected to face more scrutiny over shootings with new rules APR 17, 2017 | 3:00 AMOne officer told investigators that he feared someone could be hit by the pipe, so they "couldn't wait for a backup and had to move," Beck's report said. The officers began issuing commands that Mendez ignored, the report said. At least one officer moved closer, telling him to "stop and drop the stick." The reserve officer then fired a Taser, the report said, but it had no effect on Mendez. Mendez, still holding the pipe, moved closer, Garcia later told investigators, according to Beck's report. "He came at me, and I fired," Garcia told them. "He was coming at me, my partner. I was thinking about the other people that were all there, if he — it would take, literally, a couple seconds for him to advance and just start swinging." Paramedics took Mendez to a hospital, where he died less than an hour later.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |