Posted on 09/08/2006 5:05:28 AM PDT by radar101
Still hospitalized with three gunshot wounds, Chargers linebacker Steve Foley has refused to speak with detectives who are investigating his shooting on Sunday by an off-duty police officer, authorities said yesterday.
“An attempt has been made, but we have not been able to get a statement from him,” said Sheriff's homicide Lt. Dennis Brugos. “He chose not to speak to us.”
Authorities continued trying to piece together events leading up to the confrontation between Aaron Mansker, a Coronado police officer, and the 30-year-old NFL player.
The shooting occurred at 3:41 a.m., near Foley's home in Poway.
Investigators have interviewed Mansker, 23, who started his law enforcement career as a Palomar College campus police officer.
Mansker said he began following Foley early Sunday morning because he believed Foley was driving under the influence.
Authorities have denied requests to provide a preliminary report regarding the incident as well as disclose results of Foley's blood-alcohol test.
Foley has not been charged. His agent, David Levine, did not return phone calls seeking comment yesterday. Phone calls to Foley's cell phone also went unanswered.
One question that remains unanswered is whether Foley, who was driving an Oldsmobile Cutlass Supreme, believed that Mansker was a police officer.
Mansker was not in uniform and was driving his own car, a black Mazda, home from work at 3 a.m. when he spotted the Oldsmobile weaving on state Route 163, Brugos said.
Mansker identified himself as an off-duty officer when he pulled up next to Foley at a stoplight, but he never unclipped his badge and held it up at any point, Brugos said.
After the officer asked Foley to pull over, Foley acknowledged him, then drove off.
Brugos clarified yesterday that the officer made only that one attempt at the stoplight to pull Foley over.
After that, Brugos said, Foley was the one who stopped on his own two more times and approached the officer, the last stop on a cul-de-sac near Foley's home on Travertine Court.
A woman with Foley, Lisa Maree Gaut, reportedly got behind of the wheel of Foley's car and drove toward the officer after he fired a warning shot into the bushes.
Seconds later, after shooting at the oncoming car, Mansker turned his weapon toward Foley, who was walking toward him, Brugos said.
Mansker said Foley lifted his shirt and reached into his waistband before the officer fired, Brugos said. Foley was later found to be unarmed.
He was shot three times – in his hand, upper thigh and lower inner thigh.
Gaut, 25, who was not injured, faces several charges and is scheduled to be in court today.
Brugos said the off-duty officer had made two radio calls to Coronado police dispatchers asking for backup during the 20 minutes he was following Foley.
It was unclear how long it took Coronado dispatchers to ask other agencies for assistance, or why other agencies took so long to respond.
Sheriff's deputies who were on their way to help arrived within a minute or so after the shooting, Brugos said.
The incident has captured the attention of sports fans and police critics around the nation.
Brugos said some news reports are getting “sillier and sillier.”
“Someone gave me a story today that claimed I shot Foley three times,” he said yesterday.
Kristina Davis: (760) 476-8233; kristina.davis@uniontrib.com
This story is too weird. Obviously the off-duty cop was NOT following procedure, but obviously Foley was perceived as a threat about to produce a weapon.
I bet the cop wishes now he had just phoned the call in and gone on about his business.
As for the cops showing up late, thats about par for the course when any citizen calls in. Around here you can wait 30 minutes for a policeman to show unless its an auto accident , they love running those.
I guess you missed that part of the story huh?
I dunno..maybe he is just shy...
I don't know why, but that movie scene where the grocery store security guard draws down on the woman with 11 items in the 10-items-or-less checkout line comes to mind.
Somebody in civilian clothes and a civilian car tries to pull you over, your best bet is to head to the nearest police station.
Sounds more to me like the punk maggot mall-cop wanna-be wouldn't stop harrassing him, and Foley stopped to get the little fag to leave him alone. Firing warning shots off into the bushes sure doesn't sound like a procedure a regular, well trained cop would use.
Did you miss that important part? He was in plain clothes and claimed to be an officer. But offered no proof, just his alleged statement.
That caught my attention too. This guy sounds like a Wyatt Earp wannabe. Too many younger cops, especially university police, are trigger happy.
Give me a break. There was NO reason to assume the guy was really a cop.
Would you stop and obey some guy in civilian clothes driving a civilian car at night just because he said, "I'm a cop"? If so, get ready to be robbed or murdered.
And what idiot of a cop would fire warning shots into the bushes?
It is the cop wannabe who is guilty. He deserves a long time in jail.
Yeah, and what's this FRICKING NONSENSE about Foley reaching into his pants when he didn't have a weapon. A REAL gun is pointed at his head and he thinks, "Yeah, just the sight of my hand going down here will freak this guy out so bad, he'll run away." It never occurs to him that that is the PERFECT!!!!!!!!!!! way to get shot himself. BS!!! EVERY cop in the world who shoots an unarmed citizen has the SAME story.
Bottom line - bad shoot.
No judgement call here, I just thought this was interesting. The guy has (or had?) a salary of $775,000, and he's driving an Oldsmobile Cutlass Supreme? Maybe he's a really frugal guy...?
I assume, until PROVEN otherwise, that some non-uniformed yobbo claiming to be a police officer is
a) lying to me
b) a criminal and
c) planning to inflict death and/or grave bodily harm on me and those for whom I am responsible.
I will act accordingly ...
i support cops and all but this dumb kid shouldve just called for a marked unit to come follow the car and gone home. if you dont show your badge and youre not in a squad car, you're not a cop, in my mind. for him to keep pursuing this guy and then to pull out a gun and shoot him, is unacceptable. he ought to be fired.
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