LOS ANGELES — An off-duty Los Angeles police lieutenant broke department policy when he opened fire on a car after its passenger shot someone on the sidewalk, the LAPD's civilian oversight panel ruled Tuesday.
Though Lt. Victor Arellano said he feared being shot himself when he fired his handgun, an internal review board found that he did not see anyone in the car aiming a gun at him or posing any other specific threat. Department policy bars officers from firing at moving vehicles unless someone in it is threatening them or someone else with immediate deadly force.
The panel found that the Honda Civic had already passed by Arellano when he ran into the roadway and fired at it from more than 60 feet away rather than take cover. Arellano did not hit either of the teenagers in the car, who were 15 and 17 years old.
