LEO and dog hold off mob of 60

[Bounce12 407]

If I was this cop, I'd be asking myself if they're really paying me enough for this shit.

 

Who the fuck raised these people, anyway?

 

http://www.modbee.com/local/story/648161.html

 

Tuesday, Mar. 31, 2009

Officer, dog square off against Modesto mob of 60

By Leslie Albrecht

 

A Modesto police officer had to pull his gun to keep a hostile crowd at bay early Sunday.

 

The officer sustained minor injuries in the southwest Modesto incident, said police spokesman Sgt. Brian Findlen. Police are not releasing the officer's name. The officer's dog was assaulted but not seriously injured, Findlen said. Police arrested several suspects in connection with the incident. A loaded assault rifle was found later at the scene of the struggle, which unfolded about 2 a.m.

 

Findlen said the officer pulled his gun only after other deterrents, including his police dog, failed to keep the crowd under control. "In a situation where you really feel that your life is in imminent danger, your options become very few," Findlen said.

 

Some members of the crowd told the officer that "he was not going to leave the scene alive," according to police.

 

The crowd of as many as 60 people included some known gang members, Findlen said. Police believe the group was gathered for a party in the 1700 block of Pelton Avenue. The officer happened upon the group when he was responding to another call in the area.

 

The officer saw several people assaulting one man, Findlen said. As the officer tried to break up the fight, the crowd's attention shifted from the assault victim to the officer. The crowd surrounded the officer. The officer sent his dog into the crowd in an attempt to stop the group.

 

The dog apprehended one suspect, who police later identified as 18-year-old Alfredo Espinoza of Modesto. As the officer tried to arrest Espinoza, the crowd pulled Espinoza away from the officer.

 

According to police, some in the crowd then challenged the officer to a fight. One suspect attacked the officer, police said.

 

 

Officer's radio broken

 

The officer's two-way radio was broken during the struggle. The officer then used his gun to hold off the crowd as he tried to tell neighbors to call 911. Someone in the crowd had a police scanner, Findlen said, and told the rest of the crowd that other officers weren't responding to the scene. It was then that the officer was told he wouldn't be leaving the scene alive, according to police.

 

Backup units responded after calls from other residents.

 

Other officers responding to the scene stopped a vehicle and found Espinoza inside, Findlen said. The driver, 20-year-old Modesto resident Andrew Mitchell, and the passenger, 19-year-old Modesto resident Matthew Reyes, were arrested on suspicion of resisting and delaying a police officer, assaulting a police dog, and "lynching." Lynching is a law enforcement term that means forcibly removing a suspect -- in this case, Espinoza -- from police custody.

 

Two police scanners were found in the vehicle.

 

Two other suspects were arrested at the scene of the struggle. William Rodriguez, 29, of Modesto was arrested on suspicion of assaulting a police officer, false imprisonment of a police officer and lynching. Junior Suarez, 19, of Modesto was arrested on suspicion of resisting and delaying a police officer and lynching.

 

 

Assault rifle found

 

Officers reportedly found a loaded assault rifle magazine near the scene of the assault.

 

During a follow-up investigation later Sunday morning, police said, officers found a loaded, banned assault rifle that police believe was used at the scene of the party. Gabriel Avila, 21, of Modesto was arrested on suspicion of possessing an assault rifle.

 

Detectives are continuing their investigation. Anyone with information is asked to called the Modesto Police Department at 572-9500 or Crime Stoppers at 521-4636. Tipsters also can text information to 274637. Type "TIP704" with your message.

Edited March 31, 2009 by Bounce12

[dancapostagno 0]

believe it or not, I can't help but agree with you this time. As someone who was born not far from there, I can tell you that California's Central Valley is a very unusual place in terms of how people behave, or rather don't. Friends of mine from elsewhere had a hard time believing me until I took them there and let them see it for themselves. For a region that doesn't have heavy urban development, you'd be aghast at the evening news: it's murder, murder, murder, sports, weather. And it's almost always a really depraved story too.

 

For example, "an old man told the kids loitering outside his driveway to turn their music down, so they shot him 22 times." That's oddly typical. It is un-enforcable, the police there have largely given up and I honestly can't blame them. Oh, they'll ticket you and me, but they aren't about to get shot in the face during a traffic stop. (That also happens frequently.) In fact, I remember once that it became made public that the Crown Victoria had a weakness wherein if it was rear-ended, the tank was succeptable to explosion, so there was a long string of officers who lost their lives by being rammed ON PURPOSE...I believe that was in Fresno.

 

Well...rant over...suffice to say that for an area that is almost entirely suburban & agricultural, it has an unusually high murder rate; the Valley is like a whole other planet.

[elvis christ 451]

Between this incident and the whole deal going on in Oakland right now (when I started reading this I was sure that it happened in Oakland), I'd be willing to go out on a limb and say that we may be on the verge of some sort of race war, which is going to begin as a being between the minorities and the police, and eventually spread to include whites vs minorities. I can't help but wonder if this is a direct result of some sort of empowerment gained from the election.

 

I know it sounds conspiratorial, but I bet we start seeing a whole lot more of these incidents taking place in the future. That's gotta be horrible to be a cop and have that many people acting crazy, hemming you up.

[dancapostagno 0]

I'm sorry, but that is NOT it. A tough area is a tough Area. Oakland and the Central Valley are two very different places with different problems, and has been the case since way before Obama was elected. What you're suggesting is not only an untrue and unfair comparison, but it is a dangerous allegation to make.

[DogMan 2,343]

There must be some mistake. They couldn't have found a "banned" assault rifle because they are banned. You mean to tell me that gang members can still get their hands on banned weapons? No. We need to do a better job of getting the word out to these gangs so they know what they are allowed to have and what they're not. Its obviously just a communication problem that can be easily fixed.

Edited March 31, 2009 by DogMan

[weaponx 18]

+1 to that DOGMAN. maybe they will give up their pot , dead hookers in the trunks of their cars , and child porn. we can only wish.

[read_the_wall 614]

He's lucky to be alive or not injured. It's too bad the local residence can't have banned weapons, they might have been able to help.

[Azrial 1,091]

Yes, I have had a crowd turn on my like that a few times. The mob mentality will kill you even if none of the folks there would do so individually.

 

I have a nice scar on my side where a guy slipped a knife between my ribs while I was fighting several other men. I cracked his skull with an old style 36" nylon riot baton and resumed the fight to save my life, dripping blood from my side, my lung nicked.

 

When we later interviewed this guy to find out his reason for the assault he admitted that he did not know any of the suspects I was embroiled with, he just saw the fight and felt that he must do "something," so he stabbed me.

 

Sorry for the war story, this article just struck a nerve and I thought that it illustrated a point. I am grateful that the officer is alive.

 

Headarmorer, I honestly doubt that the officers in your area have "given up" I have worked in two of the FBI's "Top 10" most violent cities in America and overseas, I can tell you that while we had a high attrition rate, the officers that remained on the lines were quite committed to the fight.

[Brair 5]

My question is why is this not on the national news...

[Brair 5]

Oh and lets not forget that California is releasing 55000 from prison soon. I am sure that will help prevent things like this.

[dancapostagno 0]

I honestly hope you are right Azrial, but I can remember an incident not too long ago in which and officer was abducted by gang bangers, driven to the outskirts, and brutalized. After he walked back into town, he quit, citing his family was threatened. Now I don't blame him for quitting, but I do wish they would divert less of their energy to mickeymouse violations and fight the hard fight to save the populace.

 

There was a smuggling ring and chop shop in a barn of a house RIGHT AROUND THE CORNER from my neighborhood. Everyone knew it was there, including the police. But no action was taken for months while they robbed each house in the neighborhood consecutively over a long period of time (including mine.) When the outcry to stop it became overwhelming, and the police finally busted it down, they called in damn near every cop on active duty (and some I'm sure that had the day off.) And if that level of overkill conjures up the image of a seedy area, you'll be dismayed to know that this neighborhood was THE NICEST IN TOWN. We're talking upper-middleclass.

 

All manner of mayhem goes on in the Central Valley, and it's not restricted to race or socio-economic standing. The kid who boosted my car back in highschool was [most likely] white & richer than me.*

 

 

 

 

 

 

*I have to use the brackets because the police "chose" to not "formally" investigate who did it, but it is otherwise common knowledge.

[hallboss 1]

I retired from a city that is about 30 min from Modesto. Several of the officers I worked with transfered to my department for the better pay. After some of the stories they told me, that story does not surprise me in the least. If the Alfredo Espinoza is one in the same that I dealt with on thousands of occasions (he was from Modesto), he is a real POS. One violent MFer and his crew is pretty much the same.

 

I hate to say it, but CA is digging its own grave when it comes to this and it is only going to get worse before it gets better.

[Bounce12 407]

I have never read a news report of something that I had first-hand knowledge of that didn't have at least one BIG error in it. So this report might not be EXACTLY what happened, but as it's reported I have no clue how he got out of there without dropping a couple of homies in the street.

 

First, thank God for whoever it was that called 911.

 

Second, to me, the voice that shouted out that he'd never leave that area alive pretty much gave him carte blanche to take some lives.

 

Third, the dog is a LEO too. Someone touches the dog and that's "assault on a police officer" I'd think.

 

Many LEOs have some kind of recording device on them to back up their story. You know that if the LEO had killed two homies, there would be 58 eye-witnesses that would swear it was cold-blooded murder. Without a recording, the LEO would be toast.

 

To be a cop on the street like that, you have to be able to kick any one's ass at any given time on any given day. You have to be an athlete, a psychiatrist, a marriage counselor, a marksman and a fucking lawyer too. You're going to be second guessed like a SOB no matter what.

 

My hat is off to the guys who stay devoted, but I don't know what they're devoted to. The law? Shit, the lawyers are going to twist day into night and yes into no - or whatever it takes to win for their client. The communtiy? Shit, with the exception of whoever it was that called 911, it sounds like the community was out to kill the cop. The City? Cities have been cutting back on EVERYTHING. How can you do a job like that with precious little support and paycuts.

 

I don't know how you guys do it.

 

I doubt I could stay devoted to a job like that under conditions like these.

 

And that doesn't even get into the states that have done away with the death penalty.

 

Fuck! If every single cop walked off the job the day after Richardson signed that POS legislation in NM, he probably would have wanted a do-over and he'd have rescinded his signature. I'd have supported them had they done that.

Edited April 1, 2009 by Bounce12

[Azrial 1,091]

... My hat is off to the guys who stay devoted, but I don't know what they're devoted to. The law? ...

Thanks, however for me the question was as simple as, "Right or Wrong?" I never let "the law" force me to do what I felt was "wrong," nor do I ever intend to.

[Bounce12 407]

... My hat is off to the guys who stay devoted, but I don't know what they're devoted to. The law? ...

Thanks, however for me the question was as simple as, "Right or Wrong?" I never let "the law" force me to do what I felt was "wrong," nor do I ever intend to.

 

 

I understand what you're saying, but there are a couple of different ways to take this.

 

The "oath" includes supporting and defending the Constitution - at least mine did (USAF Officer Commission).

 

That's the real problem the way I see it. There are different sets of driving ideals in play.

 

1) We're expected to do what's reasonably prudent.

 

2) We're supposed to follow the ROE. When my ass was on the line, if I did what I thought was right and happened to break the ROE, I could easily wind up in jail, myself.

 

3) We're all sworn to support and defend the Constitution, as well.

 

These different sets of directives do not always back each other up.

 

AND, we have the blink of an eye in dynamic situations to make life and death decisions that affect the rest of our lives.

 

It's an easy matter for a "committee of lawyers" (after the fact) to turn all this shit on its head and point the power of law in the other direction (at us).

 

We saw Murtha do it with the Marines at Haditha. We saw Rodney King do it, too.

 

AND, there's a whole other way to take it. The cops who went around disarming people in Nawlins after Katrina were probably doing what they thought was "right" as they violated the second amendment.

 

Look, my only point is that it's not all that hard to find one's self in an impossible situation.

 

I appreciate the fact that there are people like you who are willing to do that job, but the pay is no where close to "enough" as far as I'm concerned.

 

That's one reason I left the USAF. I saw several pilots turned into criminals for doing what they thought was right (for doing things that I might have easily done in the same situation). The scapegoating is out of control in the military.

[cscharlie 107]

That place needs a good emema.

[Azrial 1,091]

I understand what you're saying, but there are a couple of different ways to take this.

 

The "oath" includes supporting and defending the Constitution - at least mine did (USAF Officer Commission).

Mine as well and no law should come before it. If a law is unconstitutional, it is not a law.

 

AND, we have the blink of an eye in dynamic situations to make life and death decisions that affect the rest of our lives.

 

It's an easy matter for a "committee of lawyers" (after the fact) to turn all this shit on its head and point the power of law in the other direction (at us).

 

Yes, this is the same with us. That is why I seldom have patience with all the Monday Morning Quarterbacks that have never had to make these decisions.

 

Look, my only point is that it's not all that hard to find one's self in an impossible situation.

 

Of course, I have been there where there is no right answer and knowing full well that the peanut gallery would come up with many the next day, usually based on an incomplete subset of the available facts and full knowledge of the contemporary unavailable ones.

 

It is a calling, not a pleasant occupation.