ANAHEIM, Calif. (AP) - A police officer has been fired and a second placed on leave after they fired 76 gunshots and killed a fleeing driver during a chase last year through a busy residential neighborhood in Southern California.
The Orange County Register reports Wednesday that prosecutors determined there wasn’t enough evidence to criminally charge Anaheim officers Sean Staymates and Kevin Pedersen. However the DA’s investigators called their actions “alarming and irresponsible.”
Fifty-year-old Eliuth Penaloza Nava was hit with nine bullets during the 2018 pursuit. His family said he’d been acting erratically and an autopsy found methamphetamine in his system. Police recovered a knife and an air pistol that resembled a real gun.
Investigators said Pederson, a probationary employee, fired most of the 76 gunshots. He lost his job.
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Information from: The Orange County Register, http://www.ocregister.com
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