Police run over sunbather

In Oxnard, California, 2 police officers were patroling the beach in an SUV. They stopped cuz they thought some swimmer was in distress. When they saw he was Ok, they drove over the berm and over a women's head. This was south of Embassy Suites hotel. She appeared to be in her 30s but had no ID on her. The cops didn't know they ran her over, so they continued. A witness called the fire dep. to report she was bleeding. There is a pending investigation.

This is where I found the original story:www.msnbc.msn.com...

I memorized it and wrote it in my own words.


All I have to say is DAMN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I always hated cops, and I guess this is fuel for even more hatred at them. Can I help it? They cite 3 yr old rock throwers, ignore calls, beat up innocents, and now drive over innocents. I bet this isn't the first or last time this happened. Watch out for the cops, comrades!!!!!!!!!! Peace out.

[edit on 12-6-2006 by Russian soldier]

mod edit: fixed link

[edit on 13-6-2006 by sanctum]

Other than the small percent that do bad things, why do you hate cops? Can you imagine a world without some type of policing authority keeping everyone in check.

The cops were totolly at fault. Yeah, it was an accident, but the cops should have known better than to blindly drive over a berm at a crowded beach.

Sporty

[edit on 13/6/2006 by SportyMB]

It's too bad that this accident occured, and the woman has died from her injuries.

"Given the soft nature of the sand and the size of the vehicle, it would have been easy for them to not sense that they had ran over something," Feiler said, adding the officers likely couldn't see the woman at the bottom of the berm.

An autopsy was scheduled for Tuesday. The officers have been placed on paid leave pending an investigation into the incident.

Authorities believe the woman may have been a hotel guest since her towel belonged to the Embassy Suites. No one had reported her missing as of Monday evening. A witness told police that a male companion left the woman and walked toward the hotel.
Full Story

I've driven in a lot of sand and can understand the officers not knowing they had killed the woman. She would just feel like a bump in the sand to the driver of an SUV.


EDIT: Fixing bb code

[edit on 13/6/2006 by anxietydisorder]

Originally posted by anxietydisorder
It's too bad that this accident occured, and the woman has died from her injuries.

"Given the soft nature of the sand and the size of the vehicle, it would have been easy for them to not sense that they had ran over something," Feiler said, adding the officers likely couldn't see the woman at the bottom of the berm.

An autopsy was scheduled for Tuesday. The officers have been placed on paid leave pending an investigation into the incident.

Authorities believe the woman may have been a hotel guest since her towel belonged to the Embassy Suites. No one had reported her missing as of Monday evening. A witness told police that a male companion left the woman and walked toward the hotel.
Full Story

I've driven in a lot of sand and can understand the officers not knowing they had killed the woman. She would just feel like a bump in the sand to the driver of an SUV.


EDIT: Fixing bb code
[edit on 13/6/2006 by anxietydisorder]

Thanks for posting some info. I don't know how to link news and qoute it. Thanks.

Originally posted by anxietydisorder
I've driven in a lot of sand and can understand the officers not knowing they had killed the woman. She would just feel like a bump in the sand to the driver of an SUV.

Agreed, I would have had no idea what I was hitting, though I assume that I would have seen a person on the beach! Sand is also hard to stop in, and since this investigation is not complete, I would warn people not to already judge the cops for a crime that may be bad, but blown out of proportion. As in, is this a reason to hate all cops? NO!

I know many police officers that hate "the system" as much as I do. They're not all bad.

Originally posted by SportyMB
Other than the small percent that do bad things, why do you hate cops? Can you imagine a world without some type of policing authority keeping everyone in check.

The cops were totolly at fault. Yeah, it was an accident, but the cops should have known better than to blindly drive over a berm at a crowded beach.

Sporty

[edit on 13/6/2006 by SportyMB]

I can't help it. I've had nothing but bad experiences with cops. Most cops I've met were bad. I don't hate ALL cops, but I hate cops in general. Yes, a policing unit MUST EXIST 100%, but cops don't do their job well, and if they do they do it too well *cough* overkill *cough*. And they pick on people like me cuz they think we ridin dirty. They see me rollin they hatin, patrolin and tryin to catch me ridin dirty. They pick on teens and ignore the old. Cops should be better people then they are. They think just because they cops that they can do anything. The government and the people in charge of the cops (police chief, etc) should watch their cop's behavior. Seriously!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Anyway, back on topic, if they knew of what they did, they probably thought they could get away with it and so are at fault. If they didn't know what they had done, its still their fault, cuz they were driving not carefully on a GODDAMN BEACH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

What a tragic story...

I'm not sure why you would blame the police, though....unless they were driving the vehicle negligently...

The link I posted also states:

The officers, who were not immediately identified, had stopped on a small berm of sand to observe a swimmer whom they thought was in distress. When they saw the swimmer was fine, they drove over the berm and apparently ran over the woman's head as she was lying about a foot from the berm's downward slope, authorities said.

So obviously Cindy Conolly, 49, of Sioux City, Iowa, was not visible to the officers as they drove over the berm. I'm sure both officers are devestated and deeply effected by this tragedy.

Even people with the best intentions can make horrible mistakes.

Maybe its because there not American Cops, I never had a problem with them over here. Most of them are real awesome people.

Well, before this turns into a complete "if you're an officer, you're cool" thread, I am going to say that I have a basic distrust of police officers. I grew up in a police family, and I saw what they and their friends did with their badges. There are problems, that we have to address locally, at least. To say all the cops in the US are cool... nah.

I sue cops. I see some pretty bad stuff. But more often than not, it's a handful of officers doing 90% of the damage. What makes it possible is when "good" cops fail to blow the whistle on the bad guys. But therein lies the problem. The code of omerta in every police force makes a whistle blower an enemy. And you don't want to eb an enemy of the cops - especially if they've got your back.

It's a problem without an easy solution. Municipalities could address it (some do) by creating a civilian review board for evaluating citizen and officer complaints against officers. Most often, the cops supervise themselves. In that situation many cops feel like 'there but for the grace of God go I' and turn away from the bad situation going down and don't report it. Also, many - if not most- cops lie on the stand. They jokingly refer to it as 'testilying'. It's a sad truth. And it's getting much, much worse thanks to the Drug War and War on Terrorism.

But if they want you, they will very likely have you. In this case I can't understand how these cops failed to see a sunbather on a beach in broad daylight unless they were trying to get some air over that berm. There's no other explanation for it IMO.

Too many cops these days are young and dumb. Just like our soldiers.

[edit on 13-6-2006 by seattlelaw]

Russian Soldier

After dealing with russian cops (milis and GAI) and border troops i do understand why you dislike them

I hope most cops in US are at least a bit more honest and decent people...

Sad thing that the woman got killed. A big question: Why the *snip* were the cops driving in beach with SUV? FFS couldnt they walk, that way they might actually see something that happens... and gain some respect/contacts with the citizens


mod edit: censor circumvention

[edit on 13-6-2006 by sanctum]

Correction: Not cops in Russia, but cops in USA! But I know cops in Russia are just as bad. Most Russian soldiers are friendly though, as I was a little kid in Russia jumped by big boys and a Russian soldier came in to rescue me from harm. But that's not the reason I want to be a Russian soldier. I want to be a Russian soldier to protect my country which I love so much. And cuz that's all I wanted to be since I was a little kid. MIlitary is a magnet for me. I am obsessed with the Russian military. Its all I want from life. Though its risky(especially since the war on Chechnya is going on) its a risk I will GLADLY take, as it is all I want from life. 1 more year before I go to Russian army. But that is off topic................

Back on topic, the last 3 replies are great to hear, and they seem to say the same things I say. I totally agree with the last 3 replies. Know what? If I accidentley drove over the women's head, I'd probably get the death penalty. So why don't the cops deserve to be punished? Give me a break, we're talking about a beach, goddamnit! Of course there will be people on the beach!!!!!! You gotta be careful, cuz you know there will be people on the beach!!! The cops have no excuse for what they did.

mod edit: removed quote from previous post

[edit on 13-6-2006 by sanctum]

As this was a tragic accident and not a conspiracy i'm moving this to BTS US News Discussion.