Drug Suspect Slain by Police in Westminster

Police shot and killed a 35-year-old man in Westminster on Saturday after he fled from an officer who had stopped his car in connection with a suspected drug deal, police said.

The man, identified as Michael Scott Coolidge of Huntington Beach, appeared to be reaching for a weapon when an officer fired, a Westminster police spokesman said.

Officers repeatedly ordered the suspect to stop and remove his hands from his waistband, Officer Robin Kapp said.

Coolidge was shot after he stopped suddenly and turned around with his hands still concealed in his waistband.

Kapp said he did not know if the suspect was armed, how many shots were fired, where the suspect was hit or how many officers were involved. He declined to release the name of the officer who fired the shots.

The shooting took place after a Westminster police officer, patrolling an area known for drug dealing, stopped the victim’s black Chevy Camaro about 1:40 p.m.

The officer had noticed what he “believed to be a hand-to-hand drug buy,” Kapp said. After stopping briefly, Coolidge sped away.

The officer gave chase, and the Camaro ran a red light and collided with another vehicle near Westminster Boulevard and Rancho Road, according to police and witnesses.

The car then skidded about 50 yards, witnesses said, and slammed into a light pole outside Rancho Liquor Store.

Coolidge got out and fled down a nearby side street.

As he ran down Hammon Place, he tried to force his way into a home on the 14100 block, said Tom Stempinski, who lives next door to the home.

“He ran up to my neighbor’s door trying to get in. She screamed and slammed the screen door closed,” Stempinski said.

“He ran across the porch across the yard, and just as he hit the street, that’s where the cops dropped him.”

Stempinski said he heard two shots.

Coolidge regularly bought cigarettes and beer at Rancho Liquor, according to store clerk Jeanna Saylor, who recognized him during the police chase.

Police had recently conducted drug raids on the nearby homes of Coolidge’s friends, she said.

Tim Schorr, another store customer and friend of Coolidge, said he went to junior high and high school with him.

“He got along great with everybody, but he was a crazy guy,” said Schorr, 32. “He was rowdy.”

As in all officer-involved shootings, the district attorney’s office will investigate the incident, police said.

The shooting marks the fourth person shot fatally by Orange County law enforcement officers this year. In April, county marshal’s deputies shot and killed a fugitive for the first time in the department’s 30-year history.

Two weeks later, Huntington Beach police officers shot to death a man outside a day-care center at the home of his girlfriend.

In May, La Palma police killed a man who had stabbed two friends inside his home and refused to put his knife down.