Edhat Staff
By the edhat staff
The California Department of Justice will not pursue criminal charges against a Guadalupe Police Officer for accidentally shooting and killing an innocent bystander in 2021.
Juan Olvera-Preciado, 59, died at the scene on the night of August 21, 2021 when a police officer discharged his service weapon during a pursuit of a wanted suspect.
The California Department of Justice’s 39-page report states a bullet ricocheted off the ground and traveled about 174 feet before hitting Olvera-Preciado in the head as he sat in a parked car in the 100-block of Obispo Street.
Guadalupe Police had stopped a man with active warrants who was suspected of setting a small fire. The Police Department stated a brief pursuit ensued and the suspect refused orders to stop. He then took his hand out of the pocket of his hooded sweatshirt holding what officers believed was a gun.
Officer Miguel Jaimes fired three shots at the suspect who fell to the ground. All three shots missed the suspect, who was unarmed and holding a black butane torch.
One of those missed bullets hit the ground and went through a slightly ajar car door, striking Olvera-Preciado as he sat in his vehicle in a driveway.
The state report said the intersection was “pitch black” where the incident took place and the officers couldn’t see the driveway from their positions.
Ultimately the state deemed Officer Jaimes acted in lawful self-defense and wasn’t criminally liable for Olvera-Preciado’s death.
Bonta’s office has recommended changes to the Guadalupe Police Department to increase public trust and community safety.
These recommendations include requiring officers to activate their body cameras as Officer Jaimes was wearing a body camera but it wasn’t activated. Officers involved in or witnessing an officer-involved shooting should not communicate with one another and remain separate to retain the integrity of the investigation as Officer Jaimes drove back to the station with another officer at the scene.
Additionally, officers should use de-escalation and crisis intervention techniques whenever possible to prevent using force, and develop policies on “situational awareness” to reduce harm and risk to innocent civilians.
The Department of Justice is required by state law to investigate law enforcement shootings that kill unarmed civilians.
Related Articles
- August 22, 2021: Fatal Officer Involved Shooting Investigation in Guadalupe
The argument is that it was pitch black so they had no way of knowing he was sitting in his car there…. Here’s an idea, quit shooting toward areas you have “no idea” what they contain? Irresponsible police work. This officer should not be working, especially in this community.
Ok then, why don’t you all try being a cop – go out and pursue someone on a warrant at night, stop them, and see what happens when they pull out something that could be a gun in the dark to kill your -ss. You’ll never see your family again. Quit the blame game. It’s ignorant.
BASIC – before we play “cop for a night” per your hypothetical, do we get to have years of police field training and hundreds of hours of firearm practice in both safety and accuracy?
It’s not a hypothetical – it’s right there in your Edhat Sac – and your question doesn’t make sense in this context whatsoever.
“[I]n your Edhat Sac?” yeah, I’m the one not making sense lol!
SAC – I’ll guess the target used during a cops firearms training does not have an outstanding warrant or is running away from the cop as part of their training. What’s your guess? I’m certain the practice target, being a piece of paper used for training isn’t able to produce a gun that could be used against them. At best, I’ll guess cops get one hour of firearms training per month, at best. In a career “hundreds” is probably overstating. It’s not reported how long this foot pursuit lasted. But how accurate do you think our hand(s) would be after running a couple blocks? Chasing a wanted suspect that suddenly stops in a “pitch black” area and removes from his sweatshirt what the officer believes to be a gun? My. I haven’t even added that adrenaline “rush” that surely must kick in during a situation such as this and could create problems for the officer.
Why would I delete myself if it were “mine?” Just because more people disagree with your constant diatribes than with mine, it’ somehow “my” Edhat? Lol that’s cute…. like 5th grade cute.
This is an absolutely awful tragedy. Good guys with guns, indeed……
“We have investigated ourselves and found no wrong doing.”
Tragic accident. Sometimes bad things happen and it’s not anyone’s fault, but in this case, fault belongs to the alledged firebug who ran away initiating a chase. Fires in our area are a big deals and menace the entire community. They are not to be played around with and the officer was right to pursue. Had the boob setting fires surrendered, there would have been no chase and no innocent’s death.