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On Feb. 17, 27-year-old Santa Ana resident Travis S. Mock was shot by an Anaheim police officer in a quiet Anaheim Hills neighborhood. Authorities told the Orange County Register no weapon was recovered from the scene. It was last reported Mock had been sustaining non-life-threatening injuries at a local hospital. After he was taken to the hospital, according to the Orange County Register, he was arrested on suspicion of theft of U.S. Mail and possession of stolen property and was placed on parole hold.
Authorities have not identified the officer but told the media the officer is a resident of the neighborhood. According to media reports, Mock was allegedly stealing mail when the officer shot him. At first it was reported the officer was off-duty and authorities later claimed the officer was on-duty.
The OC Register reported Mock has a record that includes felony burglary and drug charges. Although he had a criminal past, a question still remains: can the shooting be legally justified?
Now his family and friends are wanting answers from the police, according to the Register. However, just like many officer-involved shooting cases in Orange County, they are coming up empty-handed.
Mock may have survived his run-in with an Anaheim Police Officer, but many officer-involved shootings in Orange County prove fatal. The OC Register writes that between January 2006 and September 2010, there were 73 officer-involved shootings in Orange County, 42 of them fatal.
Orange County District Attorney Tony Rackauckas has never pressed charges against an officer involved in a shooting.
In October 2008, 20-year-old Julian Alexander was shot by an Anaheim Police Officer. Although authorities later admitted Alexander was innocent of any crime, the Orange County District Attorney found the shooting justified since Alexander was holding an end of a broomstick that appeared to a weapon.
35-year-old Caesar Cruz was shot and killed by an Anaheim Police Officer in December 2009. According to his family, they have never been informed of the circumstances surrounding his death. There is no information about what led to the shooting or if Cruz was armed at the time of the shooting. According to Cruz’s brother Joseph Cardenas, the FBI and the US Department of Homeland Security are involved in the case.
On June 30, 2010, 25-year-old Julian Collender was fatally shot by the Brea Police with an assault rifle in front of his parents home in Yorba Linda. He had no criminal record and there are no reports stating he was armed. Collender’s family confronted Brea Police Chief Billy Hutchinson and the Yorba Linda City Council at a Council meeting in October. They have not received any answers from the Orange County District Attorney or the Brea Police Department. Chief Hutchinson retired in December after two years serving the post.
On Dec. 10, 2010, 21-year-old North Carolina resident Andres Ramirez was visiting family in Santa Ana when he was shot and killed by a police officer in an alley. The OC Register reported Ramirez’s fiancée Laura Juarez is seeking a lawsuit after a coroner’s report showed Ramirez was shot in the back of the head. Police claim Ramirez was brandishing a knife; however Juarez contends her fiancé did not own any weapons.
The Orange County District Attorney investigates all officer-involved shootings. Their representatives have stated to the media that investigations can take anywhere from 6 to 9 months. In December 2010, the Orange County District Attorney changed their officer-involved shooting investigation policy to be more transparent. It remains to be seen the effect this policy will have on past and future cases.
Well if it is justifiable for Santa Ana Police Chief Walters to condone murder of mother Susie Young Kim in frond of her 18 month old child execution stile (bullet in the back of her head) then everything goes.
People are stupid Amber!…. They believe that COPs are peace officers when in fact they are fucking pigs, at least Santa Ana SAPD13 pigs ran by the mother killers Walters and Pulido.
Please do not vote for tax increase!….. do not feed the pigs.
Regardless of individual opinions towards law enforcement, these cases show there is a huge flaw in how these cases are handled in Orange County.
Indeed. Good post!
Unfortunately, a huge part of the problem are the POA’s.
The union rep’s have grown so powerful, they themselves have run afoul of the law.
In 2002 there was a waitress at Hankeys resturaunt in Downtown Santa Ana, that was courted by a heavy drinking sheriff’s deputy. they eventually had a kid together.
When she refused his marriage proposal because he had knocked her silly 2-3 times, he decided to take the cop’s way out. He shot her in the head and then himself.
Janet was just a Mom, but by the tie the Sherriff’s union got done, she was a whore, and her murderer……….well we don’t know because this was brushed under the rug.
The Santa Ana Fire Captain (Izzy) who cheated with the neighbor (and her son!) who was issued an RO, got it removed thanks to that union.
Amber, the cops union are way too powerful. Good Luck.
Allthewhile we have supposed “Liberals” cheerleading murder and abuse. Go Figure.
I should mention, like I did on Guy’s Pot post, that even though this didn’t get a lot of comments, it did get a LOT of readers. You can’t always tell from comments…
Vatican Assassin Warlock Movement congratulates the author for insightfulness and detail about the shootings. It was easy to make the jump to such conclusions. Winning!
You are right about one thing- the lack of information gives the public the chance to come to their own conclusions.
What if mr mock didn’t smoke speed and rob cars and mailboxes. Maybe he wouldnt have put himself in a position were on a blacked out street a officer had to make a decision to shoot. Put me there I am taken him out first not waiting to see what he’s pulling out.
One can’t have an actual opinion of the police because the police are made up of individuals that really don’t effect one another. But what we can say is that their is a consistent pattern of defensive posturing when a shooting occurs. This defense muddies the water of truth. Inconsistent statements show that the real problem is actually not the shootings, but the culture of the police after the shootings. Their is no doubt that police are everyday people given both major risks, responsibilities and maybe too much freedom to make mistakes.
Seems like mock was shot again by another officer this weekend. This time in a stolen car.
All families always say their poor little children are innocent. They would never carry a gun. They would never run from the police. They would never carry a knife. But when the families sue and the depos are taken, most cases end up dismissed or a jury goes against a penny. People rush to judge and the small groups that are anti police don’t even look at the facts of each case before being like the moron here calling them pigs and making idiotic remarks. WE are all humans and there will always be a few that make the mistakes that cost a life or a few million but most humans do the right thing, even when making a split second decision. Too bad the cop last night in Fullerton didn’t kill the two people that cowardly opened up on him. Those two deserved to get bullets in the head and have their families claim innocence and bad shooting etc. Cowards.