Suspects Shoot at Officers While in Pursuit NR12492ne

Los Angeles:  On October 17, 2012, at around 9:40 p.m., Mission Area uniformed police officers were about to initiate a traffic stop on a Silver Nissan containing occupants Steve Rambeau and Vanessa Acosta, when they were fired upon by the suspects.  The officers broadcast a “Help” request and went in pursuit of the Sentra.  Officers from various Valley Divisions responded to the “Help” call to assist the Mission Officers in pursuit.  During the course of the vehicle pursuit, the officers were fired upon by the suspects on at least five separate occasions.

At Vanowen Street and Firmament Avenue, officers from the Violent Criminal Task Force intentionally rammed their police vehicle which resulted in suspect Rambeau losing control of his vehicle.  At one point, suspect Rambeau pointed a gun at suspect Acosta’s head and an officer-involved shooting occurred.  Rambeau was struck by the gunfire and collapsed in the car.  Suspect Acosta was struck in the elbow, exited the vehicle and was taken into custody.

Los Angeles Fire Department Paramedics responded and pronounced Rambeau dead at the scene.  A motor officer received a minor injury during the incident.  A .40 caliber semiautomatic pistol with an extended magazine was recovered at the scene.

The below officers were involved in the officer-involved shooting:
Police Officer II Miguel Alarcon working Mission Area
Police Officer II Michael Loizzi, working Valley Traffic Division
Police Officer II Sinh Sechang working Valley Traffic Division
Police Officer II Eric Obrecht working Valley Traffic Division
Police Officer II+II Albert Martinez working Violent Criminal Task Force
Sergeant I Gordon Olson working West Valley Area
Police Officer Nicole Minarik working Mission Area
Sergeant I Habib Munoz working Violent Criminal Task Force
Police Officer II+II Frank Bancalari working Violent Criminal Task Force

Los Angeles Police Department Force Investigation Division (FID) responded and will be handling the investigation of the officer-involved shooting.

The investigation will ultimately be reviewed by the Chief of Police, the Office of the Inspector General and The Board of Police Commissioners for compliance with the Department’s use-of-force policy which states that an officer’s use-of-force actions must be objectively reasonable.  Additionally, the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Justice System Integrity Division will conduct a comprehensive review of the facts of the officer-involved shooting.