(Video Courtesy of the L.A. Times)
“A woman who led police on a high-speed pursuit from Buena Park to Santa Ana was shot and killed by a Santa Ana police officer early this morning, authorities said. A toddler who was in the back seat was unharmed,” according to the O.C. Register.
Wow. Apparently the SAPD does not know if the cop who shot this woman was aware that she had a baby in the car. The Register reported that an officer did see the baby seat when the police tried to stop the lady’s car by trapping it. But she rammed her way out.
The woman proceeded north on Grand and was shot near 17th. Now think about that for a minute. That is a very busy intersection. It is not far from the nicer part of Santa Ana. I live about five minutes away, in the Park Santiago neighborhood. Had the lady gone any further she may have been shot near Santa Clara, which leads directly into my area.
At any rate, the police still don’t know if the lady got out of her car or otherwise threatened the cop who shot her. SAPD policy dictates that “deadly force is authorized if an officer is fearful for his or her life or the life of others,” but we probably won’t know for some time whether or not the officer in question had a good reason to shoot the driver.
The chase began in Buena Park, after cops in that city tried to pull over this lady because they thought she might be a drunk driver. The chase continued, at speeds over 100 miles per hour at times, until the lady ended up in Santa Ana, where she ultimately died.
This is not the first such incident in Santa Ana. We had another shooting about a year ago, near the 55, where you may recall that a man was shot with dozens of bullets after the cops stopped him. That incident occurred when there were a lot of folks driving through the area.
Too bad that we have not figured out a better, non-lethal way to stop folks. I really hate to see our police officers shooting guns in crowded areas. If the shooter in this case was trigger-happy, we need to bid him adieu and let him see if some other police department wants to hire him.
Incidentally, I tried to use the SAPD’s online reporting program today to complain about one of our former bloggers, who now blogs over at Red Clownty and Sunny D. He threatened today to “come over to my house at midnight and take care of business.” He was upset about an anonymous comment that mentioned him.
I filed the report online, only to get a message that it could not be accepted because it contained information about the suspect. Duh! So I called the SAPD and they said that the threat was not specific enough for them to file a complaint, as it did not mention a specific weapon. Can you believe that? So I told the lady that I would wait for the guy to attack me and call back. To which she said, “OK.” Wonderful. What a ridiculous police department we have here in Santa Ana!
As for the thin-skinned blogger who threatened me, he really ought to get out of blogging. If this business makes him so crazy that he resorts to threatening folks, surely he ought to find something else to do with his time?
Art. If Thomas “El Gordo” Gordon threatened to come over to your house at midnight, HE HAS COMPLETELY LOST HIS MIND. Santa Ana residents are lucky he didn’t get elected as Mayor.
He has made a complete fool of himself now and his new name should be “Crybaby”.
I wonder if my employers at the LAUSD know that I am so mentally unstable…would they let me work around children if they did?
Art,
You shouldnt mess with my big beefy man cake Thomasina Gordon. He only looks like a pansy when he dresses as irene Ibarra at the drag quen show at hamburger marys. Butt trust me, he is all man. I can prove that for sure. So when he and i are competing for that 50 dollar prize along side all the Cher, Madonna, and Liza Minelli drag queens, trust me he is still all man under that dress.
was this police officer life in danger? we have no statement of why she HAD to be shot DEAD! baby in back seat! she must of been running or trying to get away for some very good reason you think? terrible tragedy! i do not understand not putting tarp across road and blowing out her tires! driving with baby in back seat thats crazy on her no thinking about her childs safety! that part don’t look good on her defence! unarmed? was officer just in shooting her dead’ remains to be answered! tragedy in deed! another person who just didn’t think before she did! results pay dirt! i hope she was not just shot down in cold blood!!!! than the question is just who is being given badges anyway! i respect police myself yet” i also know the bad ones too! the political correct ones that is! oakland county michigan kid with knife bated by officers at head of stairs’ kid at botton of stairs they pump 18 rounds into him!!! but wait” still on the force today live! UGLY indeed. national guard waco texas! national guard on open borders” NOTHING! one wonders about authority you think some times? always two sides to a issue i guess we will need to wait on this one, poice statement. INDEPENDENT truth justice and the american way. law and order way that is! AMEN.
What did the lady do to make them feel she was a drunk driver? Pass a stop sign or weaving in an out of traffic? Why didn’t they just follow her home then arrest her? The officer firing into the car while she was still driving posed more of a threat to the community…stray bullet or her wrecking into someone etc. Why not put spike strips on McFadden & Grand?
This is starting to look like the girl in the vw that was chased from Garden Grove to Mcfadden & Harbor in front of everyone by the GGPD. SAPD opened her door and shot her point blank? even the register was telling people to call in and demand an investigation into what went on there. But nothing was ever heard of it again. It happened a few years back by the McDonalds even they seen what happened.
Until the facts are in, people’s opinions are merely speculation. Let’s wait for the results before forming conclusions.
Isn’t ramming your car into other cars treated as a weapon?
http://www.mercurynews.com/breakingnews/ci_12114538
Update: Susie Young Kim, 37, of Irvine was found slumped over the wheel of the car and her daughter was unharmed and taken into protective custody at a children’s home, police said.
“We don’t know what led the officer to shoot,” Santa Ana police Cmdr. Tammy Franks said. “I have no reason to believe he knew she had a child in the car.”
The chase began just after 12:30 a.m. when an officer tried to stop the car because he suspected the driver might be drunk, Buena Park police Sgt. Bill Kohanek said.
Instead, officers ended up trailing Kim’s Toyota sedan through Buena Park, Anaheim, Fullerton, Tustin and Santa Ana, reaching speeds of up to 110 mph on the southbound Interstate 5 in a chase that lasted 30 minutes, Franks said.
Kim rammed two police cars in Tustin when police tried to trap the car with a maneuver, Kohanek said. An officer saw a child’s car seat in the back of her car and told their colleagues over the emergency radio, but Kohanek added that sometimes officers miss radio transmissions.
The district attorney’s office was investigating.
they are liars she knew her baby was in their and that cop shouldn’t have even shot her he should of shot the tires well i m very sad now since i can’t see my aunty susie that loved me and i loved her dearly why would the police do that??????now the baby angelica has no mommy!THANKS A LOT JERK!!!:(