Video Gift to Police Honors Drunk Driving Victim

In an emotional ceremony this week, Police Chief Daryl Wicker accepted for his department a law enforcement video package donated in memory of a 16-year-old Cypress girl killed by a drunken driver two years ago.

John Saliture, father of Allison Saliture, who died of injuries suffered in a collision March 26, 1994, presented the video equipment to Wicker.

The chief, his voice breaking with emotion, told Saliture, “I never met your daughter, but I love her.” The Police Department, he said, is “very proud and very thankful” for the donation.

Saliture told Wicker, the City Council and the audience that the chief and the Police Department were a great help to him and his family after Allison’s death.

When he learned that Wicker wanted video equipment to mount in a police car to record arrests and crime scenes, Saliture said, he approached Mitsubishi Motor Sales of America in Cypress about contributing money for the project.

The company made the donation, said Lisa Dunn, corporate relations manager, as part of its involvement in community safe-driving campaigns.

Deputy Dist. Atty. Todd Spitzer, who successfully prosecuted the driver who struck and killed Allison, was among those in the audience. He said videotaping at crime scenes is a great asset for police and prosecutors.