Posted on 12/27/2006 3:30:32 AM PST by radar101
Defendant Meki Gaono, whose face is not shown by order of the judge, is escorted from a Vista courtroom after his arraignment on Tuesday. BILL WECHTER Staff Photographer
VISTA -- A teenager accused of killing an Oceanside police officer last week told investigators that he peered through the telescopic sight of a rifle as he fired on police in the fatal shooting, a prosecutor said Tuesday.
Meki Gaono, 17, is accused of gunning down Officer Dan Bessant while the 25-year-old was responding to a call for backup from a fellow officer in the Margarita Mesa neighborhood of northeast Oceanside at about 6:30 p.m. Dec. 20.
Bessant, the father of a 2-month-old boy, was shot in his left armpit and died later that evening. Investigators believe the fatal shot, which struck Bessant near the edge of his bullet-resistant vest, was fired from about a half-block away.
Gaono, who is being charged as an adult, pleaded not guilty Tuesday to one count of murder in connection with the death of Bessant, as well as to two counts of attempted murder for allegedly shooting at a second police officer and a civilian who was accompanying police when the attack took place. Superior Court Judge David Brown agreed to set his bail at $5 million.
Deputy District Attorney Thomas Manning said that Gaono told investigators that he is a gang member.
Shackled with waist chains and handcuffs and dressed in an orange T-shirt signifying his status as an inmate at Juvenile Hall, Gaono did not speak during his short arraignment. At least once he glanced toward the crowd. Several of his friends and family members were seated in the back of the courtroom.
Several of Bessant's supporters were also in the courtroom.
After the hearing, Steve Bessant, the father of the slain officer, said his first thought on seeing the teenager accused of killing his son was "compassion."
"My heart goes out to his family and the ordeal they are going through as well," the elder Bessant said. "I hope he can find some redemption in this."
Gaono also faces a special allegation that he killed a police officer, making him eligible for life in prison without the possibility of parole if convicted. Because Gaono was not an adult at the time of the crime ---- his 18th birthday is six weeks away ---- state law prohibits prosecutors from pursuing the death penalty.
The three charges against Gaono include allegations that he used a gun and committed the crime for the benefit of the Oceanside gang to which he belongs.
No charges have been filed against a second suspect, a 16-year-old boy, who was jailed in Juvenile Hall for violating his probation, Manning said. The prosecutor said that suspect also has a "minor" criminal record. No further details were available on the boy.
Bessant, a three-year Police Department veteran, was called to the scene to assist Officer Karina Pina, 28, who had requested backup during what began as a routine traffic stop at Gold Drive and Arthur Avenue. Pina had a woman riding along with her at the time; Manning declined to release the name of the woman.
Manning said Bessant was standing near the back of a patrol car when "a shot rang out." Pina, he said, turned and fired back.
The prosecutor said the shots came from 320 feet away, and that investigators found a number of gun-shell casings at the location.
Gaono "has made statements that he fired a rifle at a police officer (while) using a scope," Manning said.
Manning said he had requested a high bail amount because he considers the teenager "a flight risk."
Manning declined to say if Gaono gave investigators a motive for the shooting. The teenager has a "minimal" criminal record with no past violent crimes, and is a one-time student of El Camino High School who later transferred to a continuation school, Manning said.
Oceanside Unified School District spokeswoman Laura Chalkley said Tuesday that last year Gaono attended Ocean Shores High School, but that he has not attended Ocean Shores this year.
Wayne Godinet, a community activist in the neighborhood, said the Gaono family has been around for quite a while and that this is not a true reflection of the family.
The community is "absolutely outraged," Godinet said. "It's just horrifying to think this could happen."
Oceanside Mayor Jim Wood said that city and law enforcement officials knew that any juvenile charged with murder couldn't face the death penalty, but that "justice will be served."
"It sounds like they have a strong case or they wouldn't have filed charges, but we'll have to wait and see," said Wood, a retired police detective.
Councilman Jack Feller said the adults responsible for any juvenile convicted of a serious crime such as murder should be held accountable as well.
"I feel sorry for the parents (of the boy charged with the murder), but they have tolerated and allowed that type of behavior to thrive," Feller said. "We as a city can't allow that to be acceptable."
A public viewing of Bessant's body is planned for 5 to 8 p.m. tonight at the Ambassador Church, 1602 S. El Camino Real. Funeral services for Bessant will be at 10 a.m. Thursday at the New Venture Christian Fellowship, 4000 Mystra Way in Oceanside.
"Our family lost a great son, husband, brother and dad," Steve Bessant said Tuesday. "The community lost a good cop."
The elder Bessant said his son's widow is "shattered" by the loss. He also thanked a number of people who helped his son after the shooting, including the two fireman he said "drug him to safety and tried the best they could to work on him."
Community support, he said, has been a tremendous help to the family of the policeman who grew up in the coastal community and graduated from Oceanside High School.
"We've not gotten through this on our own," Steve Bessant said, as his 23-year-old son Drew Bessant stood next to him in the courthouse entryway. "It's your prayers that are getting us through.
Bessant is the second Oceanside policeman shot to death in the last 3 1/2 years. Adrian George Camacho, the man convicted of killing the other officer, Tony Zeppetella, now sits on California's Death Row. Camacho was 28 when he killed Zeppetella on June 13, 2003, in a surprise gunbattle that also began as a traffic stop.
Another court hearing in Gaono's case is scheduled for Jan. 9 and a preliminary hearing has been set for Feb. 6.
-- Contact staff writer Teri Figueroa at (760) 631-6624 or tfigueroa@nctimes.com. Contact staff writer David Sterrett at (760) 901-4067 or dsterrett@nctimes.com.
We can now expect to see optical sights added to the list of prohibited assault-weapon attributes.
Either we are equal or we are not. Good people ought to be armed where they will, with wits and guns.
So is is Life in Solitary, (aka "The Death Penalty") or off to Gen Pop and a shot at Parole in 25??
Too bad he didn't resist arrest, just a little...
I'll bet it was one of those evil black telescopic sights too. And a zoom one with a mil-dot reticle.
What kind of name is "Meki Gaono" - is the killer a member of an ethnic gang of some kind? I know there's a lot of conflict between these various gang groups in CA, and they're all trying to prove that they're the biggest, baddest ones on the block.
I'm not sure, but Gaono, may be pronounced "wano", this sounds Mexican to me. Just a guess.
I doubt that it's Mexican. It has no "u" (Guano, pronounced "wano"). I know there are Samoan and other gangs in CA, although I'm not familiar with what might be found in the Riverside area. He appeared to be fairly tall, btw, so perhaps he was Samoan or African.
It is Samoan. "Junior" Seau (Samoan) comes from Oceanside.
There is a large Samoan population, and unfotunately, to counter "Other" gans, there are Samoan gangs.
A lot of people of Samoan ancestry live within 2 miles of the location where the officer was shot.
"I feel sorry for the parents (of the boy charged with the murder), but they have tolerated and allowed that type of behavior to thrive," [Councilman] Feller said. "We as a city can't allow that to be acceptable."Well said, sir.
"Too bad he didn't resist arrest, just a little..."
It doesn't always work. We had a particularly vile cop killer resist here a few years ago. When the TV crews got to the scene of his arrest, he had obviously had the tar beat out of him, but he survived to get the death penalty.
His family whined at sentencing about his "beating"...
Well it seams that no good dead goes unpunished.
We lost many people freeing some damn islands from the Jap's, and this is the payback?
What is the judges motivation for not showing the accused face? Picking anyone off with a rifle and scope is an extremely thought out and planned crime, and certainly not a juvenile mistake.
"My heart goes out to his family and the ordeal they are going through as well," the elder Bessant said. "I hope he can find some redemption in this."
Compassion? Redemption? Heart goes out to his family? Ordeal?
WTF? If it were me and their "spawn from hell" killed my son, I would be arrested for trying to tear them apart with my bare hands...not blubbering all kinds of touchy-feely politically correct statements.
What happened to real men?
Thanks, I thought he might be Samoan. I lived in the Mission District of SF and we had a lot of big, mean Samoans. They had initially settled mostly in the Hunters Point area, and I guess they had to be mean to survive. But they didn't know when to quit.
"I'll bet it was one of those evil black telescopic sights too. And a zoom one with a mil-dot reticle."
Oh sh*t! There's one living in my gun safe! Am I in danger?
Matthew 5:44. But I say to you, Love your enemies: do good to them that hate you: and pray for them that persecute and calumniate you;
Matthew 5:45. That you may be the children of your Father who is in heaven, who maketh his sun to rise upon the good, and bad, and raineth upon the just and the unjust.
Gee, and here I was thinking that he was a man of great faith who was "man" enough to point out that the real problem that allowed a crime like this to occur is the fallen state of man and to express his wish that his son's murderer would find salvation in Jesus Christ.
Hmmm, doesn't seem too politically correct to me. I give the father two thumbs up for comments especially in light of the tragedy his family has to deal with.
Ah criminy, I always too slow... :)
Most important to the libs, your children and the community are in grave danger.
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