Post by WaTcHeR on Oct 23, 2006 16:19:43 GMT -5
10.23.2006 - SAN MARCOS — One day before Jonathan Gonzales was fatally shot by a San Marcos police officer as he attacked his mother with a fork, a Hays County constable's deputy shocked the mentally ill 19-year-old with a stun gun twice while he was handcuffed in a patrol car, according to reports obtained this week.
That incident was the second of three encounters that Gonzales had with three separate law enforcement agencies in the days leading up to his death.
According to a police report, Gonzales flagged down Deputy Clemente Verastegui on Old Stagecoach Road north of San Marcos about 3 p.m. Aug. 29 and asked for a ride to San Marcos. After Verastegui said he couldn't, Gonzales walked away, picked up a broken beer bottle and walked back toward Verastegui's car, tossing the bottle into the woods when the deputy told him to.
Verastegui asked Gonzales why he needed the bottle.
"For protection," the teenager said. "Protection from you."
Verastegui handcuffed Gonzales, who he said was agitated, put him in the back of his patrol car and called for backup.
When constable's Deputy Stephen A. Velasquez arrived, Gonzales was kicking the inside of the patrol car door, reports said.
Velasquez, one of several deputies on the scene, unholstered his Taser and told Gonzales to "settle down or he was going to get Tasered," according to reports. When Gonzales continued to kick the door, Velasquez asked a sheriff's deputy at the scene about the possibility of using the stun gun on the handcuffed teenager.
"I wouldn't if I were you," the deputy said.
"Maybe a two-second ride would settle him down," Velasquez replied. He then used his stun gun on Gonzales for about one to two seconds. When Gonzales continued to kick the door, Velasquez shocked him again, according to reports.
Hays County Precinct 1 Constable Lupe Cruz, who supervises Velasquez and Verastegui, did not return calls seeking comment about the incident.
When Verastegui brought Gonzales to his San Marcos home later that afternoon, he told the teenager's mother, Rosita Pineda, that Gonzales needed to see a doctor and perhaps go on medication. Constable's Deputy Ray Helm suggested she call the San Marcos Police Department if she had further problems.
Last week, a Hays County grand jury declined to issue charges against Tracy Frans, the 13-year San Marcos police officer who shot Gonzales on Aug. 30. Frans had been responding to a 911 call from Gonzales' mother, who was worried about her son's strange, aggressive behavior.
On Aug. 28, the night before Velasquez used his stun gun on Gonzales, Kyle police were dispatched to a disturbance call involving Gonzales.
A friend, 17-year-old Amillia Gomez, had asked her father to call the police because Gonzales had cut himself with a kitchen knife and slapped her, according to the police report.
Kyle police released Gonzales to his mother with a trespassing citation.
The San Marcos Police Department was unaware of Gonzales's contact with the two other law enforcement agencies until his family told investigators about them after the shooting, San Marcos Police Chief Howard E. Williams said.
Williams said a new software system set for installation in December will help officers share information more effectively, and may prevent a shooting like Gonzales' from happening in the future.
www.statesman.com/news/content/news/stories/local/10/19/19gonzales.html
That incident was the second of three encounters that Gonzales had with three separate law enforcement agencies in the days leading up to his death.
According to a police report, Gonzales flagged down Deputy Clemente Verastegui on Old Stagecoach Road north of San Marcos about 3 p.m. Aug. 29 and asked for a ride to San Marcos. After Verastegui said he couldn't, Gonzales walked away, picked up a broken beer bottle and walked back toward Verastegui's car, tossing the bottle into the woods when the deputy told him to.
Verastegui asked Gonzales why he needed the bottle.
"For protection," the teenager said. "Protection from you."
Verastegui handcuffed Gonzales, who he said was agitated, put him in the back of his patrol car and called for backup.
When constable's Deputy Stephen A. Velasquez arrived, Gonzales was kicking the inside of the patrol car door, reports said.
Velasquez, one of several deputies on the scene, unholstered his Taser and told Gonzales to "settle down or he was going to get Tasered," according to reports. When Gonzales continued to kick the door, Velasquez asked a sheriff's deputy at the scene about the possibility of using the stun gun on the handcuffed teenager.
"I wouldn't if I were you," the deputy said.
"Maybe a two-second ride would settle him down," Velasquez replied. He then used his stun gun on Gonzales for about one to two seconds. When Gonzales continued to kick the door, Velasquez shocked him again, according to reports.
Hays County Precinct 1 Constable Lupe Cruz, who supervises Velasquez and Verastegui, did not return calls seeking comment about the incident.
When Verastegui brought Gonzales to his San Marcos home later that afternoon, he told the teenager's mother, Rosita Pineda, that Gonzales needed to see a doctor and perhaps go on medication. Constable's Deputy Ray Helm suggested she call the San Marcos Police Department if she had further problems.
Last week, a Hays County grand jury declined to issue charges against Tracy Frans, the 13-year San Marcos police officer who shot Gonzales on Aug. 30. Frans had been responding to a 911 call from Gonzales' mother, who was worried about her son's strange, aggressive behavior.
On Aug. 28, the night before Velasquez used his stun gun on Gonzales, Kyle police were dispatched to a disturbance call involving Gonzales.
A friend, 17-year-old Amillia Gomez, had asked her father to call the police because Gonzales had cut himself with a kitchen knife and slapped her, according to the police report.
Kyle police released Gonzales to his mother with a trespassing citation.
The San Marcos Police Department was unaware of Gonzales's contact with the two other law enforcement agencies until his family told investigators about them after the shooting, San Marcos Police Chief Howard E. Williams said.
Williams said a new software system set for installation in December will help officers share information more effectively, and may prevent a shooting like Gonzales' from happening in the future.
www.statesman.com/news/content/news/stories/local/10/19/19gonzales.html