John Scheibe Staff Writer
January 19, 2001, Friday
Copyright 2001 Ventura County Star
Ventura County Star (Ventura County, Ca.) January 19, 2001, Friday
(VENTURA COUNTY, Calif.)An Oxnard police officer shot and killed a 22-year-old felon and reputed gang member after he pointed a gun at police during a downtown chase Thursday afternoon.
In the second fatal shooting involving Oxnard police in eight days, Charles Joseph Valdez of Oxnard was shot numerous times after running from police for about two blocks.
“They shot my boyfriend and killed him,” a sobbing Nicole Carter, 18, told her mother in front of the C Street taco stand where Thursday’s chase started. “Get away from me, get away from me, you killed my boyfriend,” Carter, who is 71U2 months pregnant, told a police officer who tried to speak with her while she talked to her mother.
Thursday’s shooting came only eight days after Oxnard police shot and killed another armed man on the Hueneme High School campus.
The 12:15 p.m. shooting came after two Special Enforcement Team officers saw Valdez at a taco stand along C Street opposite Plaza Park, Oxnard police Cmdr. Tom Chronister said.
“They recognized him as someone who was wanted” by law enforcement, Chronister said. “Whether he was wanted because of an outstanding warrant or a parole violation, I couldn’t say right now.”
Valdez refused to talk to officers, Chronister said. He instead ran south along C Street and then cut over into a nearby alleyway as a police officer chased him. Valdez ran south for another block before he turned around and pointed what police say was a .22-caliber gun toward the officer, who shot him in the parking lot of a drug treatment center.
“At that point the officer fired a volley of shots at the suspect,” Chronister said. He added Valdez then ran again about another 60 feet before he turned around a second time and again pointed a gun at the officer. Chronister said the officer fired a second volley of shots at Valdez, who then dropped to the ground.
A second officer followed the chase in the squad car.
Valdez was taken to St. John’s Regional Medical Center, where he was pronounced dead on arrival.
Court records show Valdez was sentenced in 1999 to two years in prison for battery on a police officer. A year earlier, he had also been sentenced to prison after pleading guilty to burglary, according to court records.
Records also show he belonged to the Colonia gang and had the nicknames of “Menace” and “Little Fizzu.”
Kelly Sawlsvill, who was working about 100 yards away, said he heard two sequences of shots fired.
“During the first round it sounded like four, maybe five shots. Then I heard another three pop, pop, pop,” said the Thousand Oaks man.
At least two witnesses said Valdez was shot in the back.
“He was running when they shot him,” said Maria Torres.
Another witness agreed.
“He was definitely shot in the back,” said the second witness, who asked not to be named. When asked if this was true, Chronister would say only it’s possible Valdez could have been hit in any part of his body since the shooting came during a chase.
Guillermina Hurtado was working half a block away in Elizabeth’s Furniture Store when she heard gunfire.
“There’s been way too many shootings,” said Hurtado in Spanish, referring in part to last Thursday’s Hueneme High School shooting of Richard Lopez, 17.
Oxnard resident Jesus Diaz agreed.
“It also seems like a lot of it is directed toward Hispanics,” said Diaz.
Oxnard Mayor Manuel Lopez called the latest shooting “a sign of the times,” one where there is a lack of respect for authority. “It’s a sad day for all of us.”
Lopez said he does not think the shootings will hurt Oxnard’s image.
Oxnard police declined to say why they wanted to talk to Valdez.
Valdez’s great-grandmother recalled Thursday how his mother dropped him off at her home when he was just 41U2 years old. Adela Garcia, 86, said the mother, Judith Aires, told her she would return in a week to get her son.
“She never came back,” Garcia said. “We tried to get in touch with her a lot of times.”
Garcia said Valdez “needed a lot of love. There was no one there to give it to him.”
While authorities said Valdez was a hard-core gang member and had recently done a stint in state prison, Garcia said he was always very loving to her.
“He used to tell me ‘you’re the only family I have,’” Garcia said.
Miguel Tobar, owner of La Placita Tacos, said Valdez had just paid for his food.
“He was waiting for his food when all of a sudden he just took off and two uniformed officers went running after him,” Tobar said.
Jennie Montgomery, who works across the street, saw the chase.
“I personally know a number of police officers and I can tell you they don’t pull their guns on someone unless they really, really have to,” Montgomery said. She said Oxnard police have done a great job of cleaning up the downtown and making it safe.
Montgomery said she was saddened by the shooting.
“It’s going to give Oxnard, which has always been the red-headed, freckled stepchild of Ventura County, a bad name,” she said.
But Carmen Maria Blanca had a different view.
“There’s too much violence at the hands of police here,” said Blanca as she stood across the street from where Valdez was shot. “That’s a big reason why I moved from Oxnard,” said Blanca, 58, who now lives in Culver City.
Chief Deputy District Attorney Ron James said his office will investigate Thursday’s shooting.
James said such investigations can sometimes take months.
“They vary in length depending on the number of witnesses we have,” James said.
Police-related fatal shootings The following is a time line of fatal police-related shootings over the past three years:
Jan. 18, 2001 -- Charles Joseph Valdez, 22: A police officer fatally shot the armed Oxnard man in downtown Oxnard when Valdez pointed a gun at deputies during a foot pursuit.
Jan. 10, 2001 -- Richard Lopez, 17: Armed Oxnard youth who walked onto the Hueneme High School campus and took a student hostage was killed by a police sharpshooter.
Sept. 30, 2000 -- Jonathan Wesley Baker, 48: Ojai man who suffered from paranoia was shot by police at a Ventura hospital after stabbing three people.
Jan. 18, 1999 -- Stephen Bayer, 39: Apple Valley man shot and killed by Simi Valley police after a four-hour stand-off following a three-hour car chase.
May 7, 1999 -- Derek Myers, 26: Asheriff’s deputy shot and killed Myers in Thousand Oaks after Myers, of Thousand Oaks, jumped out of a car holding a 23-inch-long barreled paint ball gun.
Dec. 4, 1999 -- Roland Emanuel Sheehan, 43: A nine-hour hostage standoff ended when Ventura police shot and killed the Ventura man who fatally stabbed his ex-girlfriend.
Sept. 22, 1999 -- Han Huynh, 29: Ventura County sheriff’s deputies shot and killed the Thousand Oaks man who threatened them with a knife in Thousand Oaks.
Sept. 9, 1999 -- Nicholas Louis Nelson, 43: Nelson pointed a gun at an officer while walking toward them at his Ventura residence. Officers were investigating a shots-fired call reported by neighbors.
April 18, 1998 -- Jason Todd Hayley, 28: The Ventura resident was shot and killed by officers after leading them on a foot chase. During the chase, Hayley threatened to kill himself while holding a handgun to his chin. Ventura officers fatally shot him when he confronted an officer.
Feb. 7, 1998 -- Walter F. Brazenor, 50: Deputies in Thousand Oaks shot Brazenor after he threatened them with a pair of fighting knives in his home. He died from a bacterial infection related to the shooting a month and a half after the incident.
Jan. 6, 1998 -- Albert Flores, 46: Flores threatened an Oxnard police officer with a screwdriver. The officer shot and killed the Oxnard man.