Mark’s Soap Box

Well it’s getting down right weird here in Oceanside. As you may recall a Marine wife and her son were shot by an off-duty San Diego Police Officer at Lowe’s here in Oceanside. She is not talking. The cops took 3 days to name the cop. Now it gets really weird.

UPDATE: see end of story

The Dash For Cash is On

Yep, Mom lawyered up.

The woman, whose name has still not been released by police, has hired attorney John G. Phillips to represent her.

Detectives are working through Phillips to try to get a statement from her regarding the shooting.

Oh crap here we go again. She hired the same attorney who defended San Diego Charger’s player, Steve Foley who was shot in 2006 by a off-duty Coronado Police officer near Foley’s Poway home. Foley was drunk, obnoxious, and plead out to Misdemeanor DUI.

The Soap Opera Continues

Lawyer up and don’t speak to the Police. No doubt the actions of a guilty woman. On the other hand you have to wonder if Police are not releasing info to make her look bad. In which case, get a lawyer.

The woman in Saturday’s shooting has refused to speak with investigators since the incident took place in a shopping center parking lot off Old Grove Road, Oceanside Sgt. Kelan Poorman said. She is still hospitalized but expected to survive, he said.

Yea I always stone-wall Police when I am in the right.

Oceanside police have only said one of the drivers cut off the other vehicle. Then one of the vehicles followed the other car into the parking lot of a Lowe’s home improvement store on Old Grove Road near state Route 76.

Granted here in America we have rights. I am all for everyone having an attorney present during any questioning, however the vast majority of time that is a waste. I know Cops can get out of hand at times, however it’s a lot rarer than nuts like the ACLU imply.

She can lawyer up, and she most likely should. You see she has a suspended drivers license. [ looking for sources, see update below] Ooops, shouldn’t be driving. See update down below.

Where’s the beef?

So why is the PD withholding info?

It seems that Mothers Against Drunk Driving had honored Mansker for making 57 DUI arrests during 2007. In fact, he was proclaimed Coronado’s “DUI Officer of the Year.”

No big deal you say? Well read on.

Let’s go back a bit.

It was big news in December when District Attorney Bonnie Dumanis announced that she had studied the Mansker case thoroughly and would not file charges against the Coronado officer. In her view, he acted in self-defense and presumably was good to go on patrol.

Frankly, no one was too surprised. In officer-related shootings, tie bases usually go to the cops, not wrongdoers.

Still, some die-hard critics questioned Dumanis’ judgment.

“Die-hard critics” being those who love big-government but don’t trust anyone who is in big government like …

Kevin Keenan, executive director of the local ACLU, didn’t pull his punch: “The DA’s analysis is flawed and indefensible,” he said. “There’s no way this is self-defense. This amounts to one law enforcement agency protecting another.”

For my readers outside the US, the ACLU rarely (meaning never) sides with Law Enforcement, Christians, Republicans, or Boy Scouts. They hate God, America, and especially Christians.

OK, people can disagree. But here’s why the story of the MADD award struck me as so Onion-ish.

Coronado unleashed Mansker to patrol Coronado’s streets for drunks when he was still under investigation by the DA for possibly losing his cool in pursuit of a suspected drunken driver.

Think about it. For all of 2007, Mansker was a cop with a cloud over his head. Rightly or wrongly, that’s the way it was. Unless you assume the DA’s probe was a complete sham – cynics don’t respond to that – Mansker could have been charged with a serious crime.

Leaving Foley’s civil lawsuit against the city aside, what would be Coronado’s liability if Mansker had shot another drunken-driving suspect under surreal circumstances? The island might as well hand the keys to the Hotel del Coronado to the victim’s family.

Obviously, the powers that be in Coronado decided to run that risk. Instead of being stuck behind a desk, Mansker spent his limbo year on the prowl for driving drunks, scoring repeatedly.

Fortunately, the results made MADD happy.

Making MADD happy as I understand it, means money for the PD of Coronado. I have been told that MADD actually pays money for DUIs to the departments. I can’t confirm that.

No doubt SDPD and OPD are worried, I would be also. However not talking is only making worse for cops.

No info means it’s all bad

I support the cops, however it’s time to tell us something. Questions that must be answered quickly (as in now):

1. How did an 8 y.o. boy get in the line of fire?
2. How many shots were fired?
3. Was the cop’s wife aggravating the situation? (she is a Carlsbad Dispatcher)
4. What would make a fairly experienced cop shoot a women and child?
5. What is the history of the officer, is he a hot head? Nothing against hot heads, but if he is spending more time with Internal Affairs than he is patrolling, that’s something we need to know.
6. Was anyone suspected of Driving under the influence?
7. Why so long in releasing names?
8. Just what exactly caused the “road rage” if any?

Time to man up, coppers.

UPDATE:Women has been named

Records with the state Department of Motor Vehicles show Silva’s driver’s license has been suspended or revoked. She has one misdemeanor drunken driving conviction and was arrested for a second DUI in January, records show.

Oh boy. She is in deep.

Previously on the Island

• Cop Shoots Mom story 2
• Cop Shoots Mom story 1

Tags: san diego, john g phillips, rachel silva, camp pendleton, kelan poorman, frank white, usmc, marinesdwi, dui