Posted on 09/22/2006 1:15:32 PM PDT by WatchingInAmazement
A 32-year-old illegal immigrant has been charged in Thursday evening's shooting death of Houston Police Officer Rodney Johnson.
Juan Leonardo Quintero has been charged with capital murder in the 248th District Court, said HPD spokesman John Cannon.
The suspect is an illegal immigrant from Mexico who has been deported in the past and sometimes expressed concern about immigration officials and worried that he should return, his wife, Theresa Quintero, said in an interview today at their home near Hobby Airport.
Mrs. Quintero said the couple has been married since 1997.
The HPD spokesman Cannon said the suspect gave "a full confession" to the shooting.
A Harris County prosecutor said in court this morning that, while seated in the back seat, the suspect pulled a 9 mm handgun from his waistband and shot Johnson in the face. The officer was able to push an emergency response button, alerting dispatch of a problem.
When other police arrived at the scene, Quintero remained in the back seat with the gun in his hand, the prosecutor said. Police found bullet casings inside the car.
Quintero kept his head down while waiting to be called before the judge. During a brief hearing, he answered "Yes'' when asked whether he understood the charge against him.
Quintero's record shows he received deferred adjudication for a 1998 charge of indecency with a child, according to Harris County records.
Also on his record are a 1996 charge of driving with a suspended license, a misdemeanor, and a driving while intoxicated conviction in 1995.
The simple traffic stop turned suddenly tragic Thursday evening when the veteran Houston police officer was shot and killed as he sat in the front seat of his patrol car near Hobby Airport.
Just after 5 p.m., Johnson had stopped a pickup with two people inside. It was unclear why he detained or handcuffed the driver, though an officer familiar with the incident said he had no identification on him. At least one female passenger left, possibly with Johnson's permission, but Police Chief Harold Hurtt said he thought officers had found the woman and were bringing her to headquarters for questioning.
A source familiar with the scene said Johnson was shot four times through the plastic shield separating the front and rear seats. Johnson managed to push his emergency button before collapsing. The 12-year veteran of the department was taken to Ben Taub General Hospital where he was pronounced dead.
The suspect reportedly struggled as officers tried to move him to a different vehicle.
"They finally got him in the other car, but he was scratching and fighting and acting crazy, like he could win in a fight like that," said Clara Rodriguez, who lives nearby.
Johnson, 40, was the first HPD officer killed in more than two years.
"He was very personable," Hurtt said. "We will miss one of our true soldiers in Rodney Johnson."
At least a dozen law enforcement vehicles cordoned off a large area at Randolph and Braniff where the light bar atop Johnson's patrol car continued to flash long after the shooting. Temporary spotlights illuminated the scene into the evening as evidence technicians scoured the area. The owner of a nearby machine shop was called to the scene because bullets apparently pierced the wall of his building and investigators needed to get inside.
Before the suspect was taken to HPD headquarters, he was stripped of his clothes, which were placed in evidence bags, and dressed in a white jumpsuit. He was then taken downtown in the second of three patrol cars that left the scene shortly after 7 p.m.
'It just breaks my heart' As news of Johnson's death spread, police officers gathered in small groups but said little. One HPD sergeant walked to a patrol car, took out his cell phone and made a quick phone call, taking a long drink of cold water from a bottle.
"Something real bad has happened by the airport," he said.
Rodriguez said that she and her neighbors in the small subdivision between Telephone Road and Almeda Genoa knew Johnson well and that he was well-liked.
"He would always wave and smile when he saw me," Rodriguez said. "He was a real nice guy. All he was trying to do was enforce the rules."
Rodriguez said Johnson stopped her once for speeding when the speed limit was lowered on Telephone Road. She said he politely asked her to slow down and did not ticket her.
"He was just so very nice," she said. "He was not ever mean. It just breaks my heart. I feel so very bad for his wife. He got up and went to work this morning, and this is what happened. This is what happened to one of the people who protects us, who truly took care of us."
Johnson graduated from high school in Oakland, Calif., then enlisted in the Army, serving as an MP until he was honorably discharged in 1990. He served as a corrections officer for the Texas Department of Corrections (now the Texas Department of Criminal Justice) and as a Houston police jailer before attending the police academy and graduating in 1994.
Johnson was assigned to the southeast division that year and to the southeast gang task force in 1996. While on the task force he received two Lifesaving Awards from the department and one Medal of Valor from the state. He was married to Houston police officer Joslyn Johnson. They have three daughters and two sons.
The The 100 Club is issuing a $10,000 check to Johnson's family for any immediate costs associated with his death and will provide the family with further assistance later.
The group's Survivor’s Fund provides benefits to the dependents of peace officers and firefighters who are killed in the line of duty.
A familiar scene Thursday's incident was similar to the shooting of Houston police officer G.P. Gaddis in 1994. Gaddis was murdered by one of two aggravated robbery suspects he was taking to jail for aggravated robbery. Both had been searched and handcuffed behind their backs before being placed in the back seat of the patrol car.
Edgar Arias Tamayo managed to maneuver his hands, still cuffed, to his front and retrieved a pistol hidden in his clothes. He then shot Gaddis in the back of the head as he was driving. The patrol car crashed into a house, and the suspect escaped from the wrecked car, but was arrested nearby.
Tamayo was convicted of capital murder and is on death row. The shooting prompted criticism of the department by police union officials who claimed Gaddis' death could have been prevented if patrol units carried two officers.
According to a police department patrol veteran, within the past two years all HPD officers were required to attend an in-service training refresher class on proper search technique. However, he said, the unique circumstances of each incident dictate how thoroughly a suspect is searched. Search procedures also are outlined in the department's general orders manual, the officer said.
"The degree of search can range from a strip search to a cursory pat-down," said the officer, who requested anonymity out fear of departmental reprisals. "If the person is just a witness or if (the stop) is just a traffic violation, you might just put them in the back of your (patrol) car to do the paperwork. If the suspect is high risk or wanted on a felony, then you need to do more than a pat-down. But even then, you can still miss a weapon. It's part of the job. And this isn't the first time an officer has been killed with a suspect in the back seat."
Nor was it out of the ordinary for a one-man patrol unit such as Johnson to arrest one or more suspects without calling for backup, the officer said.
In the estimation of the officer, the department's well-publicized staffing shortage leaves approximately 80 percent of all HPD patrol units with a single officer. There is no protocol mandating that single-patrol officers call for backup while making arrests, he added.
"If we called for backup every time we made an arrest, nothing would get done," the officer said. "Lots of officers arrest multiple suspects by themselves. But would it be safer with two officers? Absolutely."
News of Johnson's death hit the department hard, especially Hans Marticiuc, president of the Houston Police Officers' Union, who said he was a close friend.
"He was very, very safety conscious," Marticiuc said. "He knows how to search. He worked in the jail for a number of years and all they do is search prisoners down there. "
Johnson served on the union's board of directors.
Other officer deaths The last Houston police officer killed in the line of duty was Frank M. Cantu, who was hit by a drunk driver in Montrose in March 2004. The driver was charged with intoxication manslaughter.
Three officers have been wounded in shootings since then, however. The most recent occurred in January 2005 in west Houston. Officer Ronald V. Pinkerton was shot twice as he approached a vehicle that had rear-ended him.
The last fatal shooting of a Houston police officer involved Charles R. Clark in 2003. Clark, a 20-year veteran, was killed while responding to a silent alarm at a check cashing store on South Loop 610.
In July 2005, 33-year-old reserve Deputy Constable Nehemiah Pickens was killed by friendly fire during a chase in northeast Houston. Pickens, who was armed but not in uniform, was shot four times in the back by a deputy sheriff.
About 100 Houston police officers have been killed in the line of duty since 1860.
Chronicle reporters Eric Hanson, Steve McVicker, Anne Marie Kilday, Peggy O'Hare, Jennifer Radcliffe, Mike Glenn and Todd Ackerman contributed to this report.
mike.tolson@chron.com
And you knwo this how? You don't but it sure makes a feel good talking point.
BTW per my reply #35, who is the less evil one, the guy who shot the Houston police officer or the guy who shot 5 in Pittsburgh.
JMO, you will say the guy who shot 5 in Pittsburgh since his being born in the US cleanses him in someway in your eyes.
IMO, they are both scumbags on an equal basis.
Your only defense is that "other people do it".
Pathetic.
I pray that you don't have children because the Lord only knows what kind of mischief your brood would get into with daddy justifing their every action.
"It is okay to eat people Little Danie because other people have done it."
"Jimmy did you steal us dinner? Oh it is fine as other people do it."
"Murder, rape and robbery are all fine because somebody else has done it before."
The rule of law means nothing to you does it Dane?
He had already been deported in the past, according to the article. I guess he'll get deported yet again.
30%+ of the population in LA's prison system are illegal aliens.
Don't try to juggle the numbers, answer the question.
Why don't you quit dancing for once and be honest. Or is that beyond you meager abilities?
Again I will make this statement.
It seems to you that the scumbag who shot 5 in Pittsburgh is less evil than the scumbag who shot the Houston police officer, all because of where the scumbag in Pittsburgh was born(the US).
They are both equally scumbags IMO.
Not good at all. I hope the American people start to wake up. I know the people of Houston will finally be paying attention.
We know you can do it.
Just a "Yes" or "No" answer.
Thank you in advance.
So if we already have problems here then why do you support importing more scumbags?
That is what you are doing, so justify why you want more criminals in our country.
How do you benefit from having illegal alien scumbags over running our country?
Are you here illegally?
KF can not, as gov., unilaterally do this (except MAYBE the guard). If he doesn't know that, there's no way in hell he deserves to be in any elected office.
I'm a little troubled that you would buy into this.
A scumbag is a scumbag, is a scumbag, no matter their place of birth, which seems to be contrary to your world view of an American born scumbag is better than an immigrant scumbag.
The difference is the cop-killer shouldn't have been in the country in the first place Dane.
Let him orphan 5 kids and devastate a wife back in the old country. We're busy jailing and hopefully executing the native assholes like the one in Pittsburgh you cite.
So you are saying that the scumbag who shot 5 in Pittsburgh is less evil; in heart than the scumbag who shot the Houston police officer.
I say they are both equally evil scumbags.
All of the questions stand unanswered.
If you had any money, who would you make your check out to the 100 Club supporting the police or to La Raza for the defense of the illegal alien criminal?
Both are scumbags, but one had the right to be here and the other didn't.
You seem to care more about the illegals.
WTF does this have to do with the two scumbags who shot innocent people.
Oh I forgot in your eyes the American born scumbag shooter is less evil in your eyes that the immigrant shooter.
IMO, they are both equally evil scumbags, no matter their race creed, or immigration status.
You DO NOT have my permission to ping me to threads in which I have not posted.
First show me the post.
Second you post extensively on the illegal immigration threads so I will ping you to them as I see fit.
Answer the question.
Gee, how many officers must perish at the hands of Mexico's lawbreakers.
When will our lawmakers get it through their skulls, that Mexico is not necessarilly a good neighbor...
Hey, I know how you feel.
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