Sunday, April 15, 2012


Cop Kills Fellow Cop

            Earlier this year a Santa Maria police officer suspected of having a sexual relationship with a 17-year-old girl was shot and killed by a fellow officer as he was about to be arrested. There was a struggle, the suspect officer drew his weapon and fired his gun; a fellow officer then shot the suspect in the chest, the suspect officer, was married and a four-year veteran of the department.  The dramatic shooting of a police officer by a colleague in the same unit roiled this northern Santa Barbara County city of 100,000, known more for its tri-tip and Elks rodeo than violent crime.  Santa Maria police detectives were first made aware of allegations that the officer was involved in an inappropriate relationship with a 17-year-old girl, but the information was sketchy.  An investigation followed, information unfolded during the time that the officer was on duty and unfolded very rapidly. It was very specific, that indicated that the officer was involved in not only an inappropriate sexual relationship, but a very explicit one and it demanded immediate action.  The action resulted in the death of a police officer, while this is very tragic; the police officer Alberto Covarrubias Jr. was in an inappropriate sexual relationship with a 17-year-old girl.

 Now jump forward just to the past month.  The city of Santa Maria has been put on notice that it could be subject to a lawsuit on behalf of the 17-year-old girl allegedly involved in a sexual relationship with police officer Alberto Covarrubias Jr.  The notice claims that the girl was a Police Explorer and as such was supposed to be under the protection of the city of Santa Maria.  It claims that on or about New Year’s Eve, Covarrubias embarked on a nefarious scheme to intimidate and rape the girl.  The notice also claims: The unwanted sexual advances continued without abatement, with the knowledge and acquiescence of the city of Santa Maria and its police department who watched Albert Covarrubias Jr. engage in improper conduct of sexual harassment, sexual battery, false imprisonment, assault, battery, witness intimidation and rape during the month of January 2012 until police officer Albert Covarrubias Jr. was killed by fellow police office.  Again this is tragic but it seems once again the Blue Line was keeping a secret and that secret will cost the city of Santa Maria and the Santa Maria Police department.


http://santamariatimes.com/news/local/claim-filed-against-sm-on-behalf-of-police-officer-s/article_350d0fde-71f3-11e1-af16-001871e3ce6c.html

http://articles.latimes.com/2012/jan/30/local/la-me-santamaria-police-20120130

6 comments:

  1. This is a pretty crazy story, I'm sure the officer that shot the other officer is going through a world-wind of emotions having shot one of his fellow brothers. I can only imagine how this has affected the department as a whole and the Police explorer program.

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  2. I think its unfortunate that something this would happen on all sides. From police officer engaging in misconduct to an officer shooting and killing another officer. I can't imagine the shock and confusion arising from a situation where officers are shooting officers. It just takes one incident of officer misconduct to give people a reason to lose faith in our CJ system.

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  3. I also think this is very unfortunate. The officer that unfortunately had to shoot his gun at his fellow officer was only doing his job and ensuring safety of everyone else. I defiantly feel terrible for that particular officer and the department itself. I hope everyone will be able to put that aside in the future. I also feel terrible for the wife and kids of the officer that was killed.

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  4. IT is unfortunate a cop got killed especially by another cop on the same force BUT the officer who got shot was involved in an illegal "relationship" with a minor and could have been making unwanted advances and forcing her to do sexual acts so this guy almost had it coming. At the beginning of the article you said he also drew his gun first and fired upon the on duty officer, your gonna get shot more times than not if you try that.

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  5. Very unusual story, its not common to read police officers shooting one of their own on purpose. I wonder what the suspect officer was thinking when he pulled his gun on a colleague. He must have known he was in serious legal trouble. Its another reminder that police officers are people first and may break the law like any citizen.

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  6. It seems as if the shooting was justified. If there was a struggle with the weapon. It is odd that if an arresting officer drew his weapon the officer would immediately stop struggling with the officer.The fact that the officer fired a shot is baffling. The arresting officer acted very appropriately even though I'm sure it was a difficult decision to shoot a colleague. The fact that he was having a relationship with seventeen year old does not make the the situation better. This goes again with this Blue Code of Silence. If what she is saying is true her complaints went unanswered. The accused officer may have seen his life unfolding before his eyes and decided to do something that he may have know would get him killed.

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