By Matthew Rodriguez
The San Diego Union-Tribune
Related: Off-duty Calif. cop shoots woman, boy in alleged road-rage incident
VISTA, Calif. — Rachel Silva had a .15 blood-alcohol level and tested positive for marijuana when she and her 8-year-old son were shot by off-duty San Diego police Officer Frank White, according to search warrant documents unsealed Monday.
The documents also say that White was “in fear of his and his wife’s safety” and didn’t see Silva’s son in the passenger seat when he fired five shots at Silva’s car.
The documents, eight search warrants and the affidavits filed to obtain them, were unsealed Monday by Judge Harry Elias.
They show Oceanside police asked for and received authorization to search Silva’s and White’s cars and to obtain Silva’s and her son’s medical records, surveillance videos, cell phone records and the air bag computer in White’s car.
Three judges had previously sealed the documents at the request of Oceanside police.
During the March 15 incident, Silva was shot twice in the right arm, and her son was shot once in the left leg. No charges have been filed in the case, which police say culminated an apparent road rage incident.
Police have said White was driving south on Old Grove Road with his wife about 9:15 p.m. in a Mercury sedan. Silva was exiting a nearby Shell gas station onto Old Grove at the same time, with her son in the car.
In the affidavits, and in the statement released by police last week, police say a witness reported that Silva nearly crashed her car into White’s, and that White swerved to avoid a crash. White then pulled into the parking lot of a Lowe’s home improvement store, police said.
Police said a witness reported that Silva was “tailgating White’s car, revving the engine, and yelling and screaming as she followed” White’s car into the parking lot.
White stopped his car, and Silva pulled her Honda to the left side of his car. Police wrote in the affidavits that Silva was still revving her engine and was “so close Franklin could not open his door.” White, the documents say, could not hear what Silva was shouting.
“Franklin White pulled out his gun in an attempt to force the aggressive driver away,” police write in the affidavits.
Police have said White then backed away from Silva’s car and stopped. Silva sideswiped White’s car as she backed up, and White opened fire as the two cars passed each other. One round shattered White’s window and the passenger window of her car.
A .15-blood alcohol level is nearly twice the legal limit for driving. In an interview, Silva denied she had been drinking or was high before the incident. She was driving on a suspended license as a result of two previous DUI convictions. She has not given a statement to police.
Oceanside police are expected to meet with the District Attorney’s Office Wednesday for a briefing on the case, even though they are still waiting for some test results, said Robert Kearney, a prosecutor in the District Attorney’s Office.
Police have said both Silva and White’s wife called 911 before the shooting. The city of Oceanside has declined to release the tapes.
Attorneys have filed claims against the city of San Diego on behalf of Silva and her son, the first step in possible lawsuits against the city.
The attorneys had requested to photograph Silva’s Honda, and Elias ruled Monday that they should be allowed to do so within 72 hours.
Four news organizations, including The San Diego Union-Tribune, filed a motion last week to have the search-warrant documents unsealed. The others were KFMB/Channel 8, KGTV/Channel 10 and KNSD/Channel 7/39.
In Monday’s hearing, Oceanside police and the DA’s office did not oppose unsealing the records.
Copyright 2008 The San Diego Union-Tribune