SIMI VALLEY : 2 Detectives Cleared of Criminal Liability

Two Simi Valley detectives have been cleared of any criminal liability for shooting a man who pulled a gun on them during an April investigation in Hollywood.

Los Angeles County investigators ruled that Detectives Gene Hostetler and John Parks shot David Childress in self-defense and in defending each other at a motel April 27.

The detectives had gone to Childress’ motel room to question him about an auto theft, said Simi Valley police.

They were waiting in Childress’ room when Childress arrived, recognized them and ran away, police said. When he turned and pointed a handgun at them, the detectives shot him 13 times, then arrested him, police said.

The Los Angeles County probe is over, said Simi Valley Police Lt. Tony Harper. But a routine departmental investigation by Simi Valley internal affairs officers cannot begin until after Childress is prosecuted in Los Angeles for assault on the detectives with a firearm, Harper said.

The department usually waits for a verdict on a criminal suspect who has been shot before investigating its own officers’ actions in the shooting, Harper said. That prevents the suspect’s lawyers from issuing subpoenas for records of the internal probe and “complicating the criminal investigation,” he said.

Childress later sued the detectives in U.S. District Court in Los Angeles. While the suit does not dispute that Childress pulled a gun, it alleges that Hostetler and Parks were lying in wait for him and never identified themselves as police officers.