The San Bernardino County District Attorney’s Office has completed its review of the officer-involved use of force incident which occurred on March 2, 2020. This incident happened in Rialto and involved the Rialto Police Department. The shooting was investigated by the San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Department.
On Monday, March 2, 2020, at approximately 6:12 pm, officers from the Rialto Police Department responded to a report of an attempted carjacking involving a suspect armed with a weapon near N. Spruce Avenue and W. Victoria Street in the city of Rialto.
As officers proceeded to the scene, additional victims called the dispatch center advising they were victims of attempted carjackings in the same area.
The suspect was described as a Hispanic male wearing dark clothing, riding a yellow bicycle, and armed with a handgun.
Rialto police officers located a suspect matching this description riding a yellow bicycle south on N. Spruce Avenue near the area where the attempted carjackings had occurred.
Officer Aguirre turned on his police car’s red and blue emergency lights and forward-facing solid red light in an attempt to stop the male, who was later identified as Christian I. Mr. I refused to stop and quickly pedaled his bicycle away from Officer Aguirre. Due to Mr. I being under the age of 18 at the time of this incident, his last name will not be used in this news release. He will be referred to as “Mr. I.”
Officer Aguirre followed 20 -30 feet behind Mr. I. Additional marked police cars joined Officer Aguirre in pursuit of Mr. I. These police cars had their emergency lights and sirens on as well.
Mr. I rode his bicycle through an intersection against a red light and then headed into a residential neighborhood. Officers continued pursuing Mr. I. Officer Aguirre began flashing his police car’s white spotlight at Mr. I, but he did not stop. As Mr. I turned onto N. Idyllwild Avenue, Officer Aguirre saw Mr. I had a handgun in his right hand, which he held down by his right side.
Officer Aguirre cautiously drove closer to Mr. I, getting within 10-20 feet of him. As he did so, Officer Aguirre saw the suspect had moved his right hand up to his waist area. Officer Aguirre could no longer see the handgun but could see the suspect was moving his right arm near his waist area as if he was moving his handgun.
Officer Aguirre then saw the suspect’s right elbow lifting upward. As the suspect did this, he quickly turned his head towards Officer Aguirre. Officer Aguirre believed Mr. I was looking back at him so he would know where to shoot. Mr. I looked back a second time as he continued quickly riding away from Officer Aguirre.
Fearing Mr. I was preparing to shoot his handgun at him or the other pursuing officers, Officer Aguirre accelerated his patrol unit and struck the back tire of Mr. I’s bicycle in an attempt to stop his dangerous conduct. When Officer Aguirre hit the bicycle’s back tire, Mr. I fell and accidentally fired his handgun, shooting himself in the leg.
A handgun was found lying on the pavement approximately 12 feet away from the suspect. The suspect was taken into custody without further incident.
CONCLUSION
The San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Department investigated this shooting. A review of the investigation, reports, evidence and statements was completed by the San Bernardino County District Attorney’s Office.
Based on the facts presented in the reports and the applicable law, our office concluded that the officers’ use of lethal force was a proper exercise of his rights of self-defense and defense of others, and his actions were legally justified.
WHAT THE PUBLIC SHOULD KNOW
By providing a thorough explanation to the community regarding the review of officer-involved shootings, or incidents in which deadly force is used, it is the intention of District Attorney Jason Anderson and the San Bernardino County District Attorney’s Office to maintain the community’s confidence and trust in its law enforcement officers and district attorney’s office.
Key Points of This Incident
- The Rialto Police Department received calls from attempted carjacking victims involving a male armed with a handgun on a yellow bicycle.
- Mr. I matched the description of the carjacking suspect.
- Mr. I was riding a yellow bicycle and was armed with a handgun.
- Mr. I refused to stop for police officers who were lawfully in pursuit of him.
- A police officer used his police car to stop Mr. I’s dangerous conduct.
- Mr. I was taken into custody, thus alleviating any further threat to the community’s safety at that time.
Police officers are trained to respond to these types of situations. They continually update their training as new situations and techniques are encountered or identified.
Additionally, police officers have equipment on their belts, vests, and vehicles, which they use to complete their duties.
Police officers are expected and authorized to use the equipment to protect themselves and others from suffering injuries or death. To some, watching a police officer using physical force against another person can be upsetting or disturbing.
Police officers are also authorized to use their vehicles as a weapon, when done so lawfully, to protect the lives of both the public, themselves, and other police officers.
Police officers prefer to use the least amount of force, whether it be their mere presence or verbal commands, to diffuse situations. However, there are situations, such as this incident, in which deadly force is necessary for the community’s safety and the police officers’ safety.
In rapidly tense situations, officers do not have a great deal of time planning, revising, or analyzing a crisis, such as readers of this article. When a situation evolves, officers must make the best decisions possible to protect and save lives in a condensed amount of time.
The community expects that the people they call upon to protect them, which is the police department in this situation, will not back down, be intimidated, or run scared when danger presents itself.
When law enforcement receives a call of someone using a handgun to conduct a violent crime, it is expected they will respond as quickly as possible, contain, and control the situation. When possible, their duties include detaining or arresting anyone who is a threat to the communities safety.
In this particular incident, Mr. I decided to arm himself with a handgun and ride his bicycle. He decided to use that handgun while he attempted to carjack people for their vehicles.
Per California Penal Code Section 215(a), “Carjacking” is the felonious taking of a motor vehicle in the possession of another, from his or her person or immediate presence, or from the person or immediate presence of a passenger of the motor vehicle, against his or her will and with the intent to either permanently or temporarily deprive the person in possession of the motor vehicle of his or her possession, accomplished by means of force or fear.
After victims had called the police department to report what Mr. I was doing, police officers responded to the area where Mr. I was conducting his dangerous criminal activity.
Mr. I chose not to stop for the police officers, who were attempting to lawfully detain him. He decided to violate other traffic laws as he rode away from the officer to avoid capture.
Mr. I chose to keep possession of his loaded handgun while he fled from the officers.
Mr. I stopped fleeing from the police only after a police officer used his police car to physically stop Mr. I’s bicycle. Mr. I had his finger on the handgun’s trigger, which would allow him to immediately fire the handgun. Because of this, Mr. I shot himself with his own handgun when he fell off his bicycle after it was struck by the police car.
There is an extremely high probability this officer’s use of force would not have happened had the following occurred:
- Mr. I had not decided to unlawfully arm himself with a loaded handgun while riding a bicycle.
- Mr. I did not attempt to carjack people.
- Mr. I had stopped his bicycle for the police officers who were lawfully attempting to detain him.
- Mr. I’s conduct did not lead the officers to believe he was about to use his handgun.
THE OFFICER-INVOLVED SHOOTING REVIEW UNIT
The district attorney’s office has always reviewed Officer-involved shootings and incidents where deadly force is used by a peace officer, in San Bernardino County.
Upon taking office, District Attorney Jason Anderson wanted a dedicated team of trained and experienced deputy district attorneys and investigators to review these shootings and incidents, including responding to the scene of shootings.
The review unit did not respond to this shooting scene as the new team’s design and development and its protocols were still being developed.
Please visit SBCountyDA.org/ois to learn more about this team.
As the district attorney’s office, we realize the entire community is affected when force is used by the police, regardless of the situation or circumstances. Our responsibility is to ensure that all parties involved in cases such as the one involving Mr. I acted lawfully.
DISTRICT ATTORNEY PUBLIC RELEASE MEMORANDUM
View San Bernardino County District Attorney’s Office Public Release Memorandum: Christian I.