A Border Patrol agent in Southern California who shot and killed a mother of five after she hit him with her vehicle fired his gun 10 times from the hood of her car as he tried to get the woman to stop, according to an autopsy report released Thursday.She was trying to run away. This outraged the cop who then did his best Bruce Willis imitation.
Valeria "Munique" Tachiquin Alvarado, 32, suffered 14 gunshot wounds to her upper body, the San Diego County Medical Examiner said. Some bullets may have caused more than one wound.
The autopsy determined the Sept. 28 death was a homicide and lists multiple gunshot wounds as the cause.
Alvarado fled a friend's apartment in Chula Vista when agents came with an arrest warrant for someone else, according to the autopsy, mirroring previous statements from police. Police say her car struck an agent and she drove with him on the hood for about 200 yards.
What do you think? Please leave a comment.
Police say her car struck an agent and she drove with him on the hood for about 200 yards.
ReplyDeleteHer attempt to kill him and her continued disregard for his life probably outraged him.
What were the officer's options? Let go so the lady can drive over the top of him? Try to hold on until the car runs out of gasoline? All the lady had to do was stop her car.
ReplyDeleteI suppose this is an example of a "false" defensive gun use?
Oh wait, was it wrong for the officer to pursue a suspected felon fleeing the seen of an arrest?
This is a new low for you MikeB.
"A new low?" C'mon, I've gone much lower than this.
DeleteI didn't say it was a false DGU. But, playing Bruce Willis and jumping on the hood of a moving car instead of stepping aside is a bit over the top, don't you think? It's like Zimmerman. If he's stayed in the car like he should have, there would have been no need for gun play.
She hit him with her car and continued to drive. But oh, that's right, cars are dangerous. Mikeb, you're losing, and this is an example of why.
ReplyDeleteC'mon guys, lets be fair here. Mike didn't say if he felt that the officer was wrong for shooting. Do you feel he was in the wrong sir?
ReplyDeleteNo, I say he was wrong for acting like Bruce Willis and placing himself in the position to have to fire.
DeleteThe woman was at a drug house and attempted to flee. At issue is whether or not the agents had a right to shoot and kill her as she tried to get away.
ReplyDeleteThe feds are clearly lying. The AP account is very disappointing.
We can trust local San Diego CBS & ABC news. We can surely trust the Chula Vista Police department.
This is the most fair-minded account. From ABC News:
Posted: 10/03/2012
Last Updated: 66 days ago
CHULA VISTA, Calif. - Authorities Tuesday disclosed that a woman fatally shot by a Border Patrol agent last week was on probation for a 2011 narcotics conviction at the time of her death on a residential street in southwestern Chula Vista.
The series of events that led to the fatal shooting of 32-year-old Valeria Munique Tachiquin-Alvarado began shortly before 1 p.m. Friday, when a group of plainclothes Border Patrol agents went to an apartment in the 600 block of Moss Street to arrest a felon who previously had been deported, Chula Vista Police Dept. Capt. Gary Wedge said. The undercover personnel found several people, including Tachiquin-Alvarado, inside the residence and identified themselves as law enforcement. The occupants had been the subjects of prior complaints of illegal drug activity, the captain said. Wedge told reporters, "They identified themselves as Border Patrol agents; Munique was in a position to hear them. The two agents at the car both had badges, one on his belt, the other on a chain around his neck. She was fleeing the scene."
Shortly after the agents arrived, Tachiquin-Alvarado, a U.S. citizen and mother of five left the apartment and walked toward a dark-green Honda Accord parked nearby. Border Patrol personnel who had surrounded the complex contacted her as she got behind the wheel, Wedge said. The woman then allegedly pulled away from the curb, causing the sedan to strike an agent at least once. The agent told Tachiquin-Alvarado she was under arrest for vehicular assault as a fellow officer reached through the driver's-side window and tried to remove the ignition key, Wedge said. The car then struck the first agent again, after which Tachiquin-Alvarado allegedly drove off to the west with him perched on the hood of the vehicle.
Witnesses told investigators the Honda was traveling about 25 mph and at one point veered into an oncoming lane as the agent, who appeared fearful, yelled at the woman to stop the car, according to Wedge.
After allegedly driving more than 200 yards, Tachiquin-Alvarado began to make a turn near Oaklawn Avenue. At that point, according to a witness, the agent drew his gun and fired repeatedly into the windshield. Ten bullet holes dotted the windshield.
This account from CBS, one week earlier did not include the latest police information, but had eyewitness accounts.
Here, a Border Patrol spokesman gives the official account, highly suspect that Tachiquin-Alvarado intentionally rammed the agent at high speed, throwing him on the hood of the car, where he was hanging on for dear life, pleading with her to stop.
Border Patrol authorities said that the woman rammed a U.S. Border Patrol agent with a car Friday on a residential South Bay road, hurling him onto the hood of the vehicle and prompting him to fatally shoot her through the windshield in self-defense, authorities reported. CBS
Medics took the agent to a hospital. Scott said he did not know the extent of his injuries. "But he was impacted by a vehicle pretty hard," the spokesman added.
You know, being hit by a slow-moving automobile is not particularly dangerous.
Here is an eyewitness account of the Baretta-style hood ride:
"The officer never got struck by the vehicle," said Prince Watson, who told News 8 he saw the encounter. "The vehicle was actually moving in reverse." CBS