Posted on 04/05/2008 10:36:24 AM PDT by SandRat
A Tucson police officer who shot and killed an illegal entrant during a violent scuffle was justified in using deadly force, according to the findings of a Police Department board of inquiry.
Officer Douglas Dreher's actions on Nov. 24, when he shot a man who'd attacked him with his own baton, were found to be within department policy, according to a summary of the incident obtained by the Arizona Daily Star on Friday.
Francisco Javier Yanez-Burruel, 35, of Magdalena, Sonora, was shot several times, according to Star archives.
Dreher was driving his patrol car west on Irvington Road near Interstate 19 when he ran the license plate of a white 1998 Ford Windstar van driven by Yanez-Burruel and realized the vehicle's registration had a mandatory insurance suspension, the board of inquiry's incident summary says.
Dreher stopped the minivan at a Circle K, and neither Yanez-Burruel nor his passenger had any identification. Dreher could find no record of either man in his car's computer, and he notified the U.S. Border Patrol, suspecting the men might be in the United States illegally, according to the summary.
At that point both men got out of the vehicle and began to run away. Dreher caught up with Yanez-Burruel, who refused to surrender, the summary says.
The two exchanged blows, and Dreher eventually got Yanez-Burruel in a headlock, at which point the officer could feel tugging at his duty belt and gun, according to the summary.
Dreher secured his firearm, but Yanez-Burruel grabbed his expandable baton and opened it up. The summary says Yanez-Burruel refused to surrender and was confronting Dreher with the baton in a "threatening manner."
When Yanez-Burruel advanced toward Dreher, the officer fired three times, striking Yanez-Burruel in the chest. During the internal investigation, Dreher was asked why he decided to chase Yanez-Burruel on foot.
"Officer Dreher said his reasoning for the foot pursuit was that he had a criminal case (driver failing to identify himself)," the report says. "Since he didn't know who the occupants were they could be wanted for something more serious."
The board of inquiry found that Dreher's decision to chase the suspect was reasonable and prudent, even though Yanez-Burruel's passenger had also run from the van.
Border PING
BTT!
or at least buy him a cold beer.
Thankfully he was a good shot. If he’d merely wounded the illegal in the buttocks, they’d have thrown him behind bars for the next couple decades.
nice work Officer.I’m glad you are okay.
Can someone explain this to me? Even though what?
I know, let's just let them go free when they run from the cops. That's a plan.
PC speak - trying to soothe the hurt feelings of the “re-Conquistas” would be my guess.
The board of inquiry found that Dreher’s decision to chase the suspect was reasonable and prudent, even though Yanez-Burruel’s passenger had also run from the van.
If he could have chased both of them at the same time, I think he would have done so. Too bad he didn’t have a dog to go get the other perp.
Did you even bother to find out that I live on the AZ -Mexico border or to discern that this incident was in the Tucson Sector (I-19 Nogales to Tucson) corridor?
Don't know about what's going on you imply? I live it every day.
Nice way to start out on the day you register on FR and set yourself up up for a short stay.
It is about time people wake up.
I listen to the San Diego Police and they chase ‘unknown’ drivers and anyone who runs from them, every time.
Listen on the internet at:
scan san diego.net
I wish that more people listened to the actual events as they happened and not the media’s version of it.
I hear incidents that took a lot of effort and good planning and then find it in the news, either outright twisted, or covered in one paragraph.
BTTT
A good scanner (ICom R2) or a good multiband radio (ICom R5) will let you listen to the police/fire/Utes - good to know stuff - esp in bad weather.
It will give you a much better understanding of what cops do day to day.
Yes, owning a good scanner would be useful, except I do not have the funds for one, so I listen on the internet.
This has several that I have not listened to as yet and will one of these days:
http://www.dxzone.com/catalog/Internet_and_Radio/Police_Scanners/
At this time, San Diego Police are breaking up a gang fight at a grade school.
So not an illegal alien, not an illegal immigrant..........they are now illegal entrants. Kind of like a burglar in your home.
For good reason! Most of the public doesn't understand the dividing line of the chase - some run for merely being an idiot. At other times there is very good reason they run.
Serial-killer Ted Bundy was captured in Utah. He had a mere tail-light out and ran?
There was the deputy back in the 70's in the Seattle-area that pulled into a gas station to make a pit stop. By chance a car from Mississippi was ahead of him also pulling into the station. The vehicle tore out of the lot...the driver thinking he was going to be contacted. The officer took off after him. Result: Driver of car had murdered owner of the car in MS. The victims ID was in the trunk. The driver later said he thought he was going to be contacted and why he took off.
the dividing line of the chase<<<
Oh, yes, I do understand fully, and think that I always have.
I worked at the Wellton Justice Court in the 1970’s, that is when I learned to listen to the radio.
But I was raised to think they were important to our life.
I wish more people would listen and learn the truth.
San Diego was a natural choice for me, I lived there 30 years and the local Arizona area that i live in, I have not found on the internet.
I am not going to buy a scanner to listen local.
Justice served Ping!
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