4-Hour Standoff Chokes Freeways (Illegal felon shuts down 710 freeway)

LA Times ^ | March 9, 2006 | Richard Winton and J. Michael Kennedy, Times Staff Writers

[LNewman]

Thousands of hapless travelers were trapped Wednesday on the Long Beach Freeway, and a possibly related accident resulted in the death of one man, as police waited out a kidnapping suspect whose getaway car had stalled on the highway.

SNIP

One hour turned to another, and the stretch of freeway that carries 215,000 vehicles a day remained gridlocked as morning turned to afternoon. More than four hours later, a man in a white T-shirt wanted in the reported kidnapping of a young woman late last year emerged from a maroon Ford minivan in South Gate and gave himself up.

SNIP

Trips that normally took 30 minutes turned into hours-long ordeals, as the California Highway Patrol closed off about seven miles of the 710 in both directions between East Los Angeles and Lynwood.

SNIP

Police identified the object of the chase and standoff as Eduardo Medina, 33, an alleged Eastside gang member wanted in connection with a reported kidnapping in December.

SNIP

The LAPD's Vernon said that Medina is a member of a Hollenbeck-area gang and that his alleged accomplice was Roberto Alba, 18, whom authorities identified as a gang associate.

Medina "surrendered peacefully, and, given his history, that is good ending," Vernon said. "He's a convicted felon. He has been deported once to Mexico and reentered the country illegally after being deported. He has been arrested for concealed weapons charges; he's been arrested for robbery."

Alba had already been charged with kidnapping for ransom and second-degree robbery. He is being held in lieu of $2-million bail. Medina faces charges of kidnapping and attempted kidnapping and is being held in lieu of $2.2-million bail.

... Jane Robison, a spokeswoman, said a conviction in this case could be a third strike for Medina.

[Ol' Dan Tucker]

No, more likely he will be invited to speak to our congress about the plight of migrants in the USA.

Congress?!

He'll be the guest of honor at a White House dinner.

[Scotsman will be Free]

Gays and blacks can do anything they want to in Seattle. Remember the SPD chief ordering his men to stand down while some black thugs stomped a white guy to death?

[LaineyDee]

He'll be the guest of honor at a White House dinner.

He'll at least be the guest of our tax dollars.... to keep his sorry rear-end locked up from now on. Remind me.........WHY did we give up firing squads?

[Euro-American Scum]

Clogging the freeways Americans refuse to clog.

[fortheDeclaration]

as police waited out a kidnapping suspect whose getaway car had stalled on the highway.

Why didn't the police just get the guy!

[dennisw]

12:24 a.m. March 9, 2006

 

Associated Press

Eduardo Medina, 32, of East Los Angeles, stands with members of a Los Angeles County Sheriff's tactical squad, ending a standoff that lasted more than four hours on the Long Beach Freeway (I-710) in South Gate, Wednesday.

SOUTH GATE – One of Southern California's busiest freeways turned into a parking lot when police shut down traffic during a 4½-hour chase and standoff with an alleged kidnapper.

Helmeted officers in armored vehicles waited for 32-year-old Eduardo Medina to come out of a minivan instead of charging at him because they believed the gang member was armed and dangerous, police said. No weapons were found after he surrendered peacefully on Wednesday.

“We can't take risks with people's lives,” said Los Angeles police Lt. Paul Vernon, defending the decision to wait out Medina.

“This guy has been in prison before,” Vernon said. “He's a convicted felon. He has been deported once for Mexico and re-entered the country illegally after being deported. He has been arrested for concealed weapons charges, he's been arrested for robbery.”

The incident started in Long Beach when undercover Los Angeles officers tried to arrest Medina for allegedly trying to kidnap for ransom the daughter of a restaurant owner on Dec. 10, Vernon said. The victim, who was not identified, was released as Medina's alleged accomplice tried to collect the ransom.

[sheana]

I think that would be...."undocumented felon"

[LNewman]

According to http://www.illegalaliens.us/

"Those 'undocumented' are actually 'highly documented' with fraudulent documents our government readily accepts."

... then there's always "migrant felon" or "out-of-status felon" ... the list goes on and on and ....

[LNewman]

Why didn't the police just get the guy!

See post 26.

Also, it's been less than a week or two where a car chase ended up in a 3 car crash at an intersection. The suspect left the vehicle with gun in hand headed toward another vehicle at the stop light. Police feared a carjacking situation and shot him.

Ah, here it is.

Like another poster said, it seems like an every day occurrence.

[fortheDeclaration]

I think the police are being overly cautious in these situations.

They suspected he was armed, but they did not know it.

They should have cleared the area and then gone in after the guy.

[dennisw]

Lots of times police screw up the traffic flow worse than it has to be. Like in this incident. This their way of saying to the public that they're out there working hard. Screw you, we're out here on the job taking care of you

[fortheDeclaration]

Lots of times police screw up the traffic flow worse than it has to be. Like in this incident. This their way of saying to the public that they're out there working hard. Screw you, we're out here on the job taking care of you

With all due respect to police officers, I do think you are correct.

Many do not seem concerned about traffic flow when they are giving out tickets.

[heleny]

More than four hours later, a man in a white T-shirt wanted in the reported kidnapping of a young woman late last year

Looked more like a tank top than a T-shirt.

Medina is a member of a Hollenbeck-area gang...
"He's a convicted felon. He has been deported once to Mexico and reentered the country illegally after being deported. He has been arrested for concealed weapons charges; he's been arrested for robbery."
... Medina faces charges of kidnapping and attempted kidnapping and is being held in lieu of $2.2-million bail.

Just doing the gangmember obligatory crimes that Americans won't do,
just making extra work for the police that Americans won't make,
just delaying scores of thousands of other people (and associated economic activities) that Americans don't want to delay,
just causing excess air pollution that Americans don't want to cause, and
just killing innocent people that Americans don't want to kill.

That doesn't even include the other illegal aliens who contribute to freeway congestion. Without as many cars on the freeways (and with more lanes if the CA government didn't keep raiding trasportation funds), that fatal accident and other accidents might have been prevented. Also, if the illegal alien population were severely curtailed, illegal alien felons like Medina would not as easily be able to commit crimes while hiding from the law.

... Jane Robison, a spokeswoman, said a conviction in this case could be a third strike for Medina.

As with most other 3rd strike felons, the 3rd strike isn't usually the 3rd serious crime; almost always the felon has a long history of crime (not including unprosecuted crimes), out of which only two felonies were selected as the 1st and 2nd strikes.