Police shoot fleeing driver
Personal Injury News
Article Date: 1/12/2010 | Resource: MLG
Police shoot fleeing driver
LAGUNA BEACH Police opened fire at a man inside a black car this morning, shortly after the man reportedly tried to drive away from the scene of a six-car wreck, witnesses and authorities said.
Authorities said the man who was shot by officers is the same driver who was driving at a high rate of speed on the wrong side of Pacific Coast Highway just minutes before the crash occurred at 8 a.m., near the intersection of Pacific Coast Highway and St. Ann’s Drive. Two people were also treated for minor injuries.
“There are a lot of wrecked cars,” said Lt. Jason Kravetz of the Laguna Beach Police Department. A grey Audi, a Ford F150 and a black Chevrolet were also involved in the crash.
At least one officer fired several times toward the driver inside the 2006 Mitsubishi while he was driving away from the scene of the crash, witnesses told the Orange County Register. At least one officer was ordering the driver to stop, then fired five to six times into the rear and passenger’s side of the mangled car while employees and patrons of local businesses watched, witnesses said.
The man, identified by police only as a man in his 20s, was taken to Mission Hospital in Mission Viejo where he is currently being treated for multiple gunshot wounds.
According to DMV records, the four-door Mitsubishi is registered to Colby Koenig, a 25-year-old man.
But before the crash occurred, authorities said they were alerted of a dark-colored sedan that was driving at a high-speed on the wrong side of Pacific Coast Highway. The driver was first reported to the Orange County Sheriff’s Department, heading north on Pacific Coast Highway from Dana Point. Some witnesses reported the car going at 80 to 100 mph, Kravetz said.
The car sped through two officers at Wesley Drive, where they saw the car speeding on the wrong side of the road while they were directing traffic, he said.
Seconds later, the crash.
Patrons and workers of nearby businesses rushed to the street after the sound of the impact reverberated through the busy intersection, said Tim Manriquez, who ran from his job at a window-tinting business nearby.
“I heard the collision right at my door here,” he said. “It happened so fast, I just ran out to try to help people.”
The driver in one of the vehicles, a black Mitsubishi, appeared to have been knocked unconscious by the collision, and bystanders peeked inside the car to see if he was OK, Manriquez said.
Police arrived a few seconds after the crash, and that is when the engine of the Mitsubishi started again, he said.
“He started to drive, he turned, and the car just spun out of the control,” he said.
Jaymes Gard, the general manager of the Penguin Café, said he heard the car’s wheel squeal as the driver turned the car on.
The car began to move from the center of Pacific Coast Highway toward St. Ann’s at about 10 mph, while three or four officers positioned themselves behind the car with their guns drawn, Gard said.
“It happened so quickly, it happened like in 10 seconds,” Gard said.
One of the officers began to scream at the driver.
“The cop was telling him to stop,” Manriquez said said. As the vehicle turned, officers fired about five times into the car.
Liz Campbell, who works at The Stand, a nearby restaurant, said she heard five or six shots being fired consecutively.
“I saw some people drop to the floor or duck behind other objects,” Gard said. “I don’t think they were shooting to kill. They were trying to stop him.”
Kravetz said he did not yet know what caused the officer to fire, or if the man inside the vehicle had fired at the officer.
After shots were fired, officers rushed toward the vehicle and were seen checking the driver’s vitals, Gard said.
The Orange County District Attorney’s office is currently at scene investigating the officer involved shooting, Kravetz said. He did not say whether a weapon was retrieved from inside the black Mitsubishi.
At the intersection, the 2006 Mitsubishi remained sandwiched between two police patrol cars. Gunshot holes are visible in the rear and passenger side of the car. Deputies, from the Orange County Sheriff Department’s major accident reconstruction unit, are investigating the collision.
For more information regarding this article please contact:
Jeffrey Marquart
(949)589-0150
jmarquart@marquartlawgroup.com