Failure to yield may be for something more

[DAL]

Traffic chase turns up Pomona murder suspect

November 8, 2009 | 4:50 pm

A Pomona man who led police on a short chase after refusing to pull over for a minor traffic stop is being held in connection with the Sept. 29 shooting death of another man.

Pomona police identified the suspect as Robert Louis Caballero, 32. After refusing the order to stop about 1 a.m. Saturday, police said Caballero led them on a short pursuit into Montclair, where his Dodge Charger struck a light pole. He fled on foot but soon surrendered. Police later said he was wanted on a murder warrant in connection with the death of Armando Vidana, 25.

Caballero is being held without bail at Pomona City Jail.

--Dana Parsons

[mdrdep]

This is why I'm against the no chase policies. Most people that run do so for a reason, we just don't always know what that reason is. I think pursuits should be (like almost all of this work) on a case to case basis constantly weighing the pros and cons of what we know...............

[katseiye]

Under our current pursuit policy it would have been called off the minute he began to evade them in a vehicle, even though evading detention/arrest in a vehicle is a felony in Texas.

I agree w/ mdrdep it needs to be based on case by case w/ a supervisor taking the totality of circumstances and the offenses committed before a decision is made not to pursue.

[CruiserClass]

This is why I'm against the no chase policies.

Yeah, me too. Give it a few posts, though, and someone will be on here with the "is an out tail light worth running over 17 orphans in a crosswalk" argument.

[rpd1794]

Yeah, me too. Give it a few posts, though, and someone will be on here with the "is an out tail light worth running over 17 orphans in a crosswalk" argument.

And here I am....

No offense Cruiser, because I agree with 99.9% of everything you've written, but it is valid to weigh, on a case by case basis, whether to pursue or not for non violent offenses or traffic infractions. While I'm just as happy as everyone that a turd was nabbed in this pursuit, people have been killed because some moron ran because his license was suspended. Which is the case in most of our pursuits (or an outstanding FTA or similar)

I am NOT in favor of no pursuit policies, but I also think that our primary responsibility is to protect the public, not catch everyone who runs at all costs. If you've ever had a pursuit go badly, it will change your perspective pretty quick. I used to be a loud and proud "chase em till the wheels fall off" type, but I got over that real quick after a guy ran due to his immigration status and ended up killing both himself and 56 year old woman who just happened to be at the wrong place at the wrong time.

I know that I'm probably in the minority, but at a point in time where we are killing ourselves in patrol cars more often than suspects are killing us with firearms, we may want to take some time and think these things through.

[CruiserClass]

And here I am....

No offense Cruiser, because I agree with 99.9% of everything you've written, but it is valid to weigh, on a case by case basis, whether to pursue or not for non violent offenses or traffic infractions.

I am NOT in favor of no pursuit policies, but I also think that our primary responsibility is to protect the public, not catch everyone who runs at all costs.

No, you're not "that guy". I'm not advocating a "always pursue" policy, just pointing out the major flaw of "never pursue." Disrection of the officer who is actually seeing the conditions is probably the best policy, along with supervisor review for those cases were pride overrides common sense. The last pursuit I saw end in fatality wasn't even a pursuit any longer. I got there after the crash, but the officers lit the guy up, he took off like a moron, they shut down, he kept driving like a moron anyway and hit someone. Even with a no pursuit policy, these things can and do occur.

Someone will still chime in on behalf of the never pursue policy, though.

I guess we can continue with the 100% record.

[rpd1794]

No, you're not "that guy". I'm not advocating a "always pursue" policy, just pointing out the major flaw of "never pursue." Disrection of the officer who is actually seeing the conditions is probably the best policy, along with supervisor review for those cases were pride overrides common sense. The last pursuit I saw end in fatality wasn't even a pursuit any longer. I got there after the crash, but the officers lit the guy up, he took off like a moron, they shut down, he kept driving like a moron anyway and hit someone. Even with a no pursuit policy, these things can and do occur.

Someone will still chime in on behalf of the never pursue policy, though.

I guess we can continue with the 100% record.

Gotta stay on the good side of my peeps who police my hometown

[DAL]

The comments above illustrate why I posted this story. I always figured that if someone I try to stop for a traffic violation runs, there probably is something more behind it. Why take a huge risk just to get out of a ticket?

[DAL]

Pomona man arrested in fatal shooting may be linked to two other deaths

November 9, 2009 | 10:05 am

A suspect arrested in the shooting death of a Pomona man may be linked to two bodies found Saturday in the Mt. Baldy area and Chino, according to the L.A. County Sheriff's Department.

Robert Louis Caballero, 32, of Pomona, was arrested Saturday after leading police on a short chase when he refused to pull over for a minor traffic stop. He was detained on suspicion of murder in the Sept. 29 shooting of Armando Vidana, 25, of Pomona.

But authorities believe Caballero may be connected to two other deaths discovered Saturday -- a man in Chino and a woman in the Mt. Baldy area. Information gathered after the pursuit led detectives to the bodies, and the Sheriff’s Department is working with the Pomona and Chino police departments, said Steve Whitmore, a spokesman for the Sheriff's Department.

The body of David Arthur Padilla Jr., 29, of El Monte, was found at 11:55 a.m. Saturday under a freeway pass in the 3800 block of Walnut Avenue in Chino, according to a San Bernardino County coroner’s statement. There were signs of upper body trauma, the statement said.

The body of Lorraine Minjarz, 32, of Covina, was found at 4 p.m. at the 1.34 mile marker on Mt. Baldy Road, according to information from the Sheriff’s Department and the L.A. County coroner’s office. There was no immediate word on what caused Minjarz's death, said coroner’s investigator Richard Hanna.

Caballero is being held at Twin Towers jail in downtown Los Angeles with no bail on a charge of felony evading.

[Updated at 10:36 a.m.: The Padilla and Minjarz killings are not gang-related, L.A. County sheriff’s officials said. In September, police said Vidana’s death was gang-related.]

-- Richard Winton and Baxter Holmes

[11b101abn]

I have said it before: No Chase policies are tantamount to cowardice.

The decision to chase is the purview of the pursuing officer and his Super.

IMHO

[DAL]

It's useful to gather data that show that pursuits for traffic infractions often turn up more, including things that are quite serious.