Phoenix Police epic fail; shoot homeowner 6 times then caught trying to cover it up

[CptStern]

A homeowner says a Phoenix police officer shot him six times in the back during a 911 home-invasion call, and the 911 tape recorded the officer's partner saying, "That's all right. Don't worry about it. I got your back. ... We clear?" The family says the officers were not aware that the 911 call was still recording as they spoke about covering up the shooting.

In their complaint in Maricopa County Court, Anthony and Lesley Arambula say an armed intruder "crashed through the front window" of their home on Sept. 17, 2008 and ran into one of their son's bedrooms.

Anthony, worried about his son who was still in his bedroom, says he "held the intruder calmly at gunpoint" and called 911.

Phoenix Police officers already in the neighborhood heard the crash of the Arambulas' window. When they approached the house, Lesley says, she told Sgt. Sean Coutts that her husband was inside holding the intruder at gunpoint. Lesley says Coutts failed to pass on that information to the two other officers.

Inside the house, the Arambulas say, Officer Brian Lilly shot Anthony six times in the back while he was still on the phone with the 911 operator - twice when he was on the ground.

The complaint states that Officer Lilly "admitted that it was only after Tony was laying, bullet-ridden, on the ground that he assessed the situation. The 911 tape continued to record what happened even after Officer Lilly unloaded his weapon into Tony, including Officer Lilly's post-shooting, one-word 'assessment': '****.'

"Tony believed he was going to die; the 911 tape records his plaintive goodbye to his family: '... I love you ... I love you.' Then Tony made what he believed was a dying request to the officers; he did not want his young family to see him shot and bloodied. Officers callously ignored his request and painfully dragged Tony by his injured leg, through the home and out to his backyard patio, where they left him bloodied and shot right in front of Lesley, Matthew and Zachary."

The Arambulas say the officers later dragged Anthony onto gravel, then put him on top of the hot hood of a squad car, and "drove the squad car down the street with Tony lying on top, writing in pain."

wow and we're supposed to believe that police officers are highly trained and skilled individuals with a cool head?


http://www.courthousenews.com/2009/..._Cover-Up_After_Shooting.htm?=protectandserve


oh btw the police officers in questions were found not guilty of any wrong doing

Phoenix police officer Brian Lilly did not break any department rules in the shooting of homeowner Tony Arambula, the Phoenix Use of Force board decided today.

Any other decision might have cost the city a lot of money, right away.

http://blogs.phoenixnewtimes.com/valleyfever/2009/09/phoenix_officer_who_shot_homeo.php

 

[Rizzo]

The Arambulas say the officers later dragged Anthony onto gravel, then put him on top of the hot hood of a squad car, and "drove the squad car down the street with Tony lying on top, writing in pain."

The hell? And holy shit this story, how can that not be a violation? Like, all of it.

 

[mastag]

 

[xcellerate]

everybody makes mistakes or has an accident and doesn't think they should be punished for it. Somebody hits your car in a parking lot, they drive off thinking, "I really didn't mean to hit them, it was an accident, besides my car is damaged too!"

Let's say when the robber broke in, the homeowner's wife screamed, so a neighbor came running with his gun. Went into the house and shot the homeowner thinking he was the criminal, these exact same police officers would most likely have no second thoughts about immediately arresting that neighbor and taking him to jail. but but but, when they do it, it was an accident!

 

[CptStern]

everybody makes mistakes or has an accident and doesn't think they should be punished for it. Somebody hits your car in a parking lot, they drive off thinking, "I really didn't mean to hit them, it was an accident, besides my car is damaged too!"

Let's say when the robber broke in, the homeowner's wife screamed, so a neighbor came running with his gun. Went into the house and shot the homeowner thinking he was the criminal, these exact same police officers would most likely have no second thoughts about immediately arresting that neighbor and taking him to jail. but but but, when they do it, it was an accident!

Phoenix Police officers already in the neighborhood heard the crash of the Arambulas' window. When they approached the house, Lesley says, she told Sgt. Sean Coutts that her husband was inside holding the intruder at gunpoint. Lesley says Coutts failed to pass on that information to the two other officers.

Inside the house, the Arambulas say, Officer Brian Lilly shot Anthony six times in the back while he was still on the phone with the 911 operator - twice when he was on the ground.

The complaint states that Officer Lilly "admitted that it was only after Tony was laying, bullet-ridden, on the ground that he assessed the situation.

and you cant compare the actions of a civilian with a trained police officer

 

[xcellerate]

and you cant compare the actions of a civilian with a trained police officer

My hypothetical neighbor is active captain of seal team-6.

I see trained police officers over-drive their vehicles off the road, into buildings, and into other cars. Just because you're 'trained' doesn't mean you're good at it. Like this officer, he shot the wrong man, in the back.

Why didn't the officers just ask the man to drop his weapon before shooting him? And if they did, what was the man's response that provoked the officers enough to shoot him multiple times?

 

[Stigmata]

Six times. Even if he was definitely, undeniably the right and only suspect, once is enough.

 

[CptStern]

My hypothetical neighbor is active captain of seal team-6.

oh come on, you're just throwing in a whole bunch of conditional "ifs" ..what if he's former mossad, or mixed martial arts underwater interpretive ballet champ?

I see trained police officers over-drive their vehicles off the road, into buildings, and into other cars. Just because you're 'trained' doesn't mean you're good at it. Like this officer, he shot the wrong man, in the back.

you're right, he's just really bad at shooting the bad guys, but really good at shooting the good guys

Why didn't the officers just ask the man to drop his weapon before shooting him?

I dont know, trigger happy? he admits he didnt assess the situation, in other words he came in shooting

And if they did, what was the man's response that provoked the officers enough to shoot him multiple times?

he was on the phone

 

[nipples]

Six times. Even if he was definitely, undeniably the right and only suspect, once is enough.

This. Once he was on the ground there was clearly no real need to keep shooting.

 

[CptStern]

This. Once he was on the ground there was clearly no real need to keep shooting.

to be fair it took 4 shots to get him on the ground. and two more while he was on the ground for good measure

 

[xcellerate]

he was on the phone

Can't watch a movie on the phone, can't drive on the phone, can't breach and secure a house on the phone, wtf can we do on the phone?

 

[nipples]

I doubt your average person is going to be able to do anything after getting shot four times. If the cop really felt the guy was that much of a threat he could have taken the guys gun once he fell.

 

[CptStern]

Can't watch a movie on the phone, can't drive on the phone, can't breach and secure a house on the phone, wtf can we do on the phone?

apparently we can get shot on the phone


@ nipples: I was being sarcastic

 

[Maestro]

Nice job on the flamebaiting Stern.

 

[jverne]

so moral of the story...guns work, the police doesn't?

 

[nipples]

@ nipples: I was being sarcastic

Fuuuuuuu

 

[Krynn72]

Why are me and rizzo the only ones who care about the fact that the COPS PUT A DYING MAN ON THE HOOD OF THEIR CAR AND DROVE DOWN THE ****ING STREET WITH HIM STILL ON THE GOD DAMNED HOOD?


EDIT: And Stern, they weren't found "Not Guilty." The police department's "review board" said that "such an error is allowed by department policy." This still hasn't been taken to court yet. I highly doubt a jury would find these idiots innocent. And if they do, I'm moving in with you and stigmata up there in the blissfully sane Canada.

 

[AJ Rimmer]

Why are me and rizzo the only ones who care about the fact that the COPS PUT A DYING MAN ON THE HOOD OF THEIR CAR AND DROVE DOWN THE ****ING STREET WITH HIM STILL ON THE GOD DAMNED HOOD?

Yah, what was the point of that?

Also:

Then Tony made what he believed was a dying request to the officers; he did not want his young family to see him shot and bloodied. Officers callously ignored his request and painfully dragged Tony by his injured leg, through the home and out to his backyard patio, where they left him bloodied and shot right in front of Lesley, Matthew and Zachary."

That right there? Evil. The rest can be disguised as incompetence, bad judgment, incorrect deductive reasoning, but that shit there? Evil. Simply evil.

 

[VirusType2]

I think it's important to point out that he is black.

"Sprinkle some Crack on him and let's get out of here." - Dave Chappelle
http://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=dave+chappelle&search_type=&aq=f

 

[MuToiD_MaN]

Geez, he didn't even know that the resident was armed when he shot him.
Wouldn't have mattered though; the one cop didn't even pass on the information homeowner had the burglar at gunpoint, so the irresponsibility extents past the officer who fired the shots.

At least they gave the guy a car-surfing lesson afterward. Even trade? I think so.

By the way, this article is written terribly. It doesn't use a consistent name for the homeowner (Anthony, Anthony Arambula, Tony) and refers to the residents by their first names, not to mention has a rather biased tone. Written by a friend, perhaps? And also, the guy took SIX bullets in the back and didn't die?? What the hell is he made out of? Either this story is inaccurate or the cop was [strike]a lousy shot[/strike].

Final BS call: if you were the guy who got shot, would your first words after taking that many bullets be, "You just killed ... you just killed the homeowner [i.e., referring to yourself in the third person]. The bad guy is in there."

 

[Krynn72]

People have taken many more bullets than that and lived. Not that extreme really.

But yeah, that last bit seems suspect. Seems like a typo tbh.

 

[Saturos]

This. Once he was on the ground there was clearly no real need to keep shooting.

Unless of course they already knew that they majorly screwed up and really didn't want the guy alive after the fact, if you know what I mean.

 

[nipples]

Oh I know what you mean.

 

[bam23]

Shoot first, realize you ****ed up, ask questions later?

 

[unozero]

Stern grins every time he see's a article that he can use to make the U.S look bad.

 

[Sulkdodds]

I like this picture of Stern. It makes him sound like an evil red-eyed terrorist straight out of a propaganda poster.

 

[CptStern]

I like this picture of Stern. It makes him sound like an evil red-eyed terrorist straight out of a propaganda poster.

you mean like this?

I'm ..watching ...YOU, amerika



I admit I sometimes like doing this:

in the case of this thread switch the puppy with america


but really I'd much rather be a godzilla like being SMASHING evil capitalism

Stern grins every time he see's a article that he can use to make the U.S look bad

 

[No Limit]

A cop back in my middle school then again in my high school was named lilly. God I hated that ****ing guy.

 

[nurizeko]

TBH its stories like this that make me feel like I'd rather have the Peoples Police Force of China over me then US cowboy cops.

They might make me disappear if I speak out against the regime but at least they are competent.

 

[Dax]

How is it even humanly possible to screw up this bad?! I mean what the MOTHERFU*K?!??!?

And, driving with the wounded person on the hood?? What is this? Proudly showing up their prey? "yeah, look what we caught!" Or simply because they didn't want him messing up their backseat?

 

[lefty]

Nice job on the flamebaiting Stern.

in after "my dads a cop durr"

 

[Sheepo]

The cops shot at me for the hell of it like five times yesterday. It gets pretty ****ing annoying.

 

[Some_God]

TBH its stories like this that make me feel like I'd rather have the Peoples Police Force of China over me then US cowboy cops.

They might make me disappear if I speak out against the regime but at least they are competent.

Rare, out-of-the-ordinary instances of US police brutality makes you yearn for a police force whose level of brutality is unmatched?

 

[RakuraiTenjin]

When this happened I lived really close to there probably about 5 or 10 minutes away.


Man seriously **** these cops here. Except the DPS I never have been harassed by them and that's when they have a reason to (speeding etc)

Sherriff Joe Arpaio man it isn't and joke people that live outside don't see that he really does profile. It's not just anti illegal immigrant it's just anti-mexican. They've had US Citizens hemmed up in those outdoor cells open to public view for hours before letting them go. The county and his office are basically at war. They have about 100 or so of his new cars they wont release to him and are strangling each other over budget issues. A judge here even recently found the sheriff second in command in contempt of court and he basically says he doesnt care what are they going to do about it- he IS the law.

The feds won't do anything because he's seen as an anti-illegal immigration hero. If most people saw what he does here and the acts of deputies they would say he's just racist and it's not about that.

People are kept in outdoor cages where everyone can see them until the end of these nightly operations. Basically the deputies just fill the streets at night and just stop every brown person they see.


When we lived there on that side of town it was in a really crappy studio apartment complex (we have since bought a house due to low prices.) Pretty ghetto place. The cops came pounding at the door one day saying they got a 911 call from inside. They thought i was beating my lady. It took about 10 minutes for them to be convinced we didn't call and then they realized their map was old and the complex was renumbered. They didn't even look at the number on the door before doing this.

Now if they had barged in (911 violence call) and I had shot at them thinking they were burglars I'd be in prison. They're all incompetant and many are corrupt here. This was pretty late at night and we're lucky we were awake or else they probably would've forcefulyl enterred.