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.htmlhttp://articles.latimes.com/2012/jan/30/local/la-me-santamaria-police-20120130
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.
ReplyDeleteI 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.
ReplyDeleteI 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.
ReplyDeleteIT 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.
ReplyDeleteVery 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.
ReplyDeleteIt 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.
ReplyDelete