Riverside to Fire 4 Officers Who Killed Woman

RIVERSIDE —  The four Riverside police officers who shot and killed 19-year-old Tyisha Miller after they found her sitting unresponsively in her car in December were informed Friday that they will be fired, according to city police union officials and the attorney for the officers.

The notice of termination was given by Police Chief Jerry Carroll Friday afternoon, they said, sparking strong reaction from the city’s police union that the decision was politically motivated and may lead to a job action.

The four officers, two of whom were still probationary rookies when the killing occurred, have 10 days to appeal to keep their jobs before the termination takes effect. The two more senior officers can also request an arbitration hearing to overturn the chief’s decision.

Miller’s mother said she was “very happy” with the news. “But my baby’s gone and I still miss her,” Delmer Ruth Miller said. “I want those officers behind bars. This is just the beginning, and we believe we will eventually get justice.”

Citing privacy laws, a Police Department spokesman declined to discuss the developments.

The discipline is the latest twist in a tragic case that has drawn national notoriety. The Riverside County district attorney’s office last month cleared the officers of criminal wrongdoing, but the shooting remains under investigation by the FBI.

The decision to fire the officers puts Riverside in a precarious position because it still must defend the officers’ actions in a wrongful death lawsuit filed on behalf of Miller’s family.

The dismissals had been demanded by critics of the killing, who argued that the officers, all of them white, acted hastily and irresponsibly when they responded to a 911 medical distress call and found the black teenager passed out in the driver’s seat of a locked car, a gun in her lap.

The officers decided to break a car window to grab the gun, and said they saw her move for the weapon after the window shattered and one officer leaned inside. All four officers reacted by shooting at Miller, firing 24 times in all. Miller was struck by 12 bullets and died instantly.

Police Department spokesman Paul Villanueva said Chief Carroll would not make any comments Friday. He did confirm, though, that the chief met face to face with the officers Friday to inform them of action he has taken.

The department’s internal affairs bureau investigated the shooting and forwarded its findings to Carroll, Villanueva said, who “reviewed them and concurred with them.”

“He has now proceeded with actions consistent with those findings.”

Lawyer Blames Political Pressure

Bill Hadden, the officers’ attorney, said late Friday that he had not yet read the entire 4,500-page report but added that he believes political pressure prompted the chief’s decision.

“I think what the city has done is overreact to the cries of people who have a racial agenda, when the facts of this case show no racial bias whatsoever,” he said. “The officers risked their lives to save this woman, and this is the answer Chief Carroll gave them.”

Officers Daniel Hotard, 23, and Paul Bugar, 24, had been with the department for less than a year at the time of the shooting. The other two officers are Wayne Stewart, 25, who had been with the department for two years after serving two years as a Riverside County sheriff’s deputy, and Michael Alagna, 27, who had been with the department 3 1/2 years.

The four officers could not be reached for comment Friday.

They had been placed on paid administrative leave after the Dec. 28 shooting, which has sparked multiple public protests directed against the Police Department and district attorney’s office. The demonstrations, now held weekly, have been peaceful, but dozens of participants--including some nationally known civil rights activists--have been arrested for civil disobedience for blocking access to the downtown police station.

The chief’s actions do not need the blessing of the Riverside City Council or city manager.

Mayor Ron Loveridge was out of town Friday and could not be reached for comment.

But the firings were quickly condemned by the Riverside Police Officers’ Assn.

“Chief Carroll is sending the message that if officers do their job in good faith and their actions result in an unpopular or unfortunate set of circumstances, they may lose their job due to political pressure,” said Jeffrey Joseph, president of the organization, which represents about 300 officers, detectives and sergeants.

“These officers did not murder Tyisha Miller, and did not act out of racial bias” as critics contended, Joseph said. “They should not be made political scapegoats. They deserve the support and respect of their department and the citizens they serve.”

Joseph said the chief’s decision will have a chilling effect on officers in the field. “They’re going to be afraid of being second-guessed when forced to make split-second decisions to the point where they may fail to act when they need to, to protect themselves or other members of the public.”

He said the police union is contemplating possible job action as a result of the chief’s decision. “Things are being planned,” he said, but he would not elaborate.

The tactics used by the officers in trying to resolve the situation have been challenged by experts in the field of officer involved shootings.

The officers told investigators they spent about seven minutes trying to awaken Miller by shouting and banging on her car. They said that before a supervisor arrived, they decided to break a window and grab the weapon so it would be safe for medical personnel to approach her.

However, several experts have said that given the presence of the weapon, the officers should not have broken the window. Miller’s reaction--apparently being startled awake and then reaching for the weapon--should have been anticipated, they said.

Riverside County Dist. Atty. Grover Trask also criticized the officers’ tactics, but said it was unlikely that a jury would agree they were guilty of criminal negligence.

On the day when Trask announced his findings, Carroll said of the officers: “If they had retrieved that weapon without further incident, they would have been heroes.”

FBI, State Have Begun Probes

Trask has said he is convinced that the incident was not racially motivated. However, because officials acknowledge that some racial remarks were made by other police officers after the shooting, both the FBI and the state attorney general’s office have launched inquiries into possible violations of civil rights.

The circumstances surrounding the shooting were unusual but not unique. When a similar shooting occurred eight years ago in Los Angeles, much different discipline was meted out.

In 1991, Los Angeles County sheriff’s deputies were called to a West Hollywood intersection where a motorist was slumped behind the wheel of his pickup truck--with his hand on a gun.

When a deputy lunged inside to grab the driver’s handgun, the man awoke and began struggling, and the truck lurched forward. Deputies fired 40 times, killing the motorist instantly.

In the wake of that incident, the supervising officer at the scene who approved the tactics was suspended for five days, according to Los Angeles County district attorney’s records, but the officers who did the shooting were not disciplined.

The Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors eventually authorized payment of $650,000 in an out-of-court settlement with the motorist’s mother after she filed a wrongful death lawsuit.

Tyisha Miller’s family has also filed such a lawsuit, and has enlisted the help of Los Angeles civil rights attorney Johnnie L. Cochran Jr.

At the time of the shooting, Miller’s blood-alcohol level was 0.13%, about 1 1/2 times the legal limit for driving. The gun in her lap was later found to be inoperative.

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Times staff photographer Luis Sinco contributed to this story.