CountGlockula
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Incredible story of courage and valor.
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Cocaine is a hell of a drug. Bravo to Officer Jackson.
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Huntington Beach officer honored for role in gunbattle
Officer Trevor Jackson receives Medal of Valor from LAPD on Wednesday for firing shotgun at 2 men who shot at police during chase.
By JON CASSIDY
LOS ANGELES – Huntington Beach police officer Trevor Jackson was awarded the Los Angeles Police Department Medal of Valor Wednesday for his role in a 2005 gun battle.
Jackson and his partner, officer Richard Ramos, fired the shots that brought a 40-minute shooting spree to an end.
The ceremony...honored 21 current and former Los Angeles police officers for bravery.
...
"The award he's received is indicative of the person he is and the character he has," Bunetta said. "Since he's come aboard, he's continued to display the same type of character and integrity while working with us and the city of Huntington Beach."
The incident for which Jackson is being honored started early in the morning of March 10, 2005, when two officers in south Los Angeles saw a blue Chevrolet Blazer swerving, straddling lanes and running a string of stop signs along Vermont Avenue near 88th Street, according to the Los Angeles Police Department's account.
The driver ignored orders to stop, and continued along Vermont Avenue in no apparent hurry. The officers called for backup and, once it arrived, began a low-speed pursuit.
At the start of the chase, the driver stopped the SUV several times, opening his door to throw beer cans, lighted cigarettes and other things at the officers.
The officers had no way of knowing what investigators would later learn: The two men inside were planning to shoot cops; the driver, then-20-year-old Ryan Vargas, had even told friends to watch the news, because he was going to be the lead story, police said.
The driver let police pull to within one car length and then opened fire, shattering the windshield of officer Kyle Remolino's car. The driver turned around and fired some more, but police didn't return fire, trying to protect the lives of innocent bystanders.
The driver made some more U-turns on Vermont and then opened fire on another squad car, hitting officer Christian Urbina's windshield right in front of his face. At this point, officers saw that the passenger, 23-year-old Tony Diaz, had a laser-equipped rifle.
After 44 minutes, Jackson and Ramos joined the chase, pulling up first to the passenger side of the Blazer and then to the driver side.
Jackson fired four rounds from his shotgun and Jackson opened up with his pistol, forcing the Blazer off the road and into the fence of a supermarket parking lot.
Immediately after the crash, Vargas and Diaz exchanged gunfire with the police officers.
After a standoff of around three hours in which SWAT surrounded the SUV with armored vehicles, there was one final hail of gunfire before police dragged Vargas from the vehicle, according to news accounts at the time. Diaz was found dead in the passenger side.
Police found 500 rounds of ammunition and a rifle in the Blazer. Vargas was high on speed and cocaine, police said.
Despite more than 120 rounds being used, no police or bystanders were injured.
Contact the writer: [email protected] or 714-445-6694
Cocaine is a hell of a drug. Bravo to Officer Jackson.
