District
Attorney Nola Tedesco Foulston announces today that the investigation and review
of a law-enforcement involved incident occurring on May 12, 2004 have been
completed.
The
incident giving rise to the investigation and review occurred on private
property in the area of 4055 S. Meridian in Wichita, Kansas. This incident
involved officers of the Wichita Police Department and an individual identified
as Luis Grajeda-Rodriquez who died at that location.
As
required by protocol established by the Office of the District Attorney and
under its authorization, a joint investigatory team consisting of the Kansas
Bureau of Investigation and Wichita Police Department revealed the following
facts:
Factual
Summary
The Undercover Investigation
On May 11, 2004, undercover narcotics officers of the Wichita Police Department
were working with a confidential informant or C/I to arrange a purchase of
one to two kilos of cocaine from an individual who was a suspected dealer of
cocaine. The Buy/Bust was set to take place sometime on May 12, 2004. A
Buy is defined as an observed sale of cocaine and a Bust is
defined as an immediate arrest following the illegal sale of narcotic drugs.
Several
undercover officers were assigned various positions and duties to accomplish
this investigation. They were dressed in black clothing with the word POLICE
written in large print across their T-shirts, they wore Wichita Police
Department police badges, gun belts and Glock handguns, bullet proof vests,
and drove a variety of undercover vehicles throughout this operation. The
undercover officers were conducting both audio and visual surveillance of the
activities of the C/I, who was wired.
The
C/I contacted the supplier in the afternoon to determine where and when the sale
was to take place. The location of the sale was to be in the area of 4700 S.
Meridian at a horse stables according to the supplier. At approximately 4:00
p.m. the supplier, identified as Luis Grajeda, was observed by an undercover
officer entering the horse stables at 4055 S. Meridian driving a Tan 1998 GMC
Yukon. While there, Grajeda contacted an individual driving a red Chevrolet
pickup with silver flames on the side. Grajeda then received a blue container
from the individual in the red pickup. Grajeda returned to the Yukon and drove
from the stables, to the Q-trip at Meridian and MacArthur, just north of the
stables. The C/I again made contact with Grajeda and Grajeda indicated the deal
was set and ready to take place at the stables. However, the C/I became
concerned as he entered the dirt road to the stables because he recognized
individuals that were present at the stables and he did not want to be
identified. The C/I again contacted Grajeda to change the meeting place to a
mobile home park south of the stables. Grajeda agreed and they both drove to a
mobile home park south of the stables, 4400 S. Meridian, and parked their
vehicles side by side.
The Mobile Home Park
Several
undercover officers in undercover vehicles were watching the C/I and Grajeda
at that location. When Grajeda and the C/I got out of the vehicle to make the
transaction, the Bust signal was given and the officers began to move
in to make the arrest. Grajeda apparently realized that something was going on
and jumped back into his Yukon and began driving erratically and at a high
rate of speed. He drove over the grass out of the mobile home park and north
onto Meridian to escape the police. The police chased him to the horse stables
located to the north at 4055 S. Meridian.
The Horse Stables at 4055 S.
Meridian
The
property at 4055 S. Meridian includes a residence, barn, numerous outbuildings
and horse stables.
It was approximately 6:25 p.m. when Grajeda and the pursuing police
entered the stables. The area was very congested. There were numerous civilian
vehicles parked along the narrow dirt drive which led to the stables and riding
area. In addition, several civilian men, women and children were either working
at the stables or there tending and riding horses.
Grajeda
continued to drive at a high rate of speed on the dirt drive of the stables,
kicking up dust clouds and causing civilians to run and dive to avoid being hit.
He drove to the end of the drive where he threw out a blue in color Budweiser
beer carton. There was no exit from the stable at the end of the drive. He
turned his Yukon to drive back east, however, undercover police vehicles blocked
the drive. Grajeda gunned the Yukon and smashed into a parked vehicle that
belonged to a civilian who was riding her horse. Grajeda then hit a fence post
causing the front end of the Yukon to rise into the air. When the Yukon hit the
ground, Grajeda continued trying to drive out of the area.
The Police Response
Officer
#1 and Officer #2 were in a white Honda on the dirt drive. Officer #1 heard the
crash and got out of the Honda assuming the crash would stop the Yukon. However, as he was standing in the drive, he saw the Yukon
coming directly at him and his partner, Officer #2, who was also standing
outside the Honda. Officer #1 believed Grajeda could see him and his shirt
clearly marked POLICE. Officer
#1 drew his firearm and fired into the Yukon hitting the driver in the forearm.
Grajeda swerved but continued driving now headed directly toward a second
undercover vehicle, a brown van, occupied by Officer #3 and Officer #4.
Officer
#3, who had been driving the van, jumped out when he heard a shot fired. Officer
#4 also got out of the van on the passenger side and immediately realized the
Yukon was now driving directly at him at a high rate of speed. He believed he
would be hit and dove back into the van. Officer #3 also believed he and his
partner would be hit. Officer #3 fired two gunshots at the driver; both shots
bounced off the windshield. The van continued and Officer #3 fired two
additional shots through the open passenger window. Officer #3 then observed
Grajeda move his body between the seats, became concerned that he was reaching
for a weapon, and fired two more shots as the vehicle continued to move.
Another
undercover officer, Officer #5, drove his undercover vehicle in front of the
Yukon to block any continued movement and the Yukon butted up against his
vehicle and finally stopped. The tires of the Yukon continued to spin in the
dirt. Officers approached the Yukon and observed that Grajeda was partially
between the seats with his foot on the gas, and appeared to be dead.
Additional Officers Arrive
In
response to an "officer
in trouble call"
given by Officer #1 at 6:30 p.m., additional officers came into the area to
secure the scene, separate the involved officers, and interview multiple
civilian witnesses. The interviews with the civilians revealed they believed
that the individual erratically driving the Yukon while attempting to elude
the police endangered their lives, their animals and their vehicles.
Officers
also located the red Chevy pickup with silver flames in the stables area but
found it to be unoccupied. The police began an extensive search of the area to
locate the driver of the red Chevy pickup. The owner was never located.
The Red Chevy Pickup
Narcotic
Officers of the Wichita Police Department had received information earlier that
same day that an individual had received approximately 18 kilos of cocaine and
was bringing the cocaine into the city. According to the information, this
individual was driving a red Chevrolet pickup with silver flames.
Shortly thereafter, the undercover officers observed a red Chevrolet
pickup with silver flames pull in front of Grajeda's
vehicle as they were headed to the stables.
Crime Scene Investigation
Crime
Scene Investigators from the Wichita Police Department arrived at the scene to
photograph, diagram and preserve evidence. They located the Budweiser beer
carton at the east end of the dirt drive. Inside the carton were two bricks of
cocaine, approximately one and a half kilos. Investigators documented tire
tracks and the bullets'
paths through the Yukon. A search was conducted of the abandoned red Chevy
pickup and no additional drugs were located.
Autopsy Results
On
May 13, 2004, the autopsy performed on Luis Grajeda-Rodriquez, age 22,
revealed that he died from multiple gunshot wounds.
He had been shot at a distant range six times in the jaw, neck, face
and right forearm and twice in the torso causing his death immediately at the
scene of the shooting.
The Law
In
Kansas, all persons including law enforcement officers are entitled to defend
themselves and others against the use of unlawful force. The law provides that a
person is justified in the use of force against an aggressor when and to the
extent it appears to him and he reasonably believes that such conduct is
necessary to defend himself or another against such aggressor's
imminent use of unlawful force. An officer is justified in using force likely to
cause death or great bodily harm only and to the extent that it appears to him
and he reasonably believes that such conduct is necessary to defend himself or
another against such aggressor's
imminent use of unlawful force.
In
Kansas, an arrest is made by an actual restraint of a person and the law allows
all necessary and reasonable force to be used to affect an arrest.
The
use of deadly force by Officer #1 and Officer #3 against Luis Grajeda did not
constitute an unlawful use of force. It is clear that Grajeda was trying to
elude a lawful arrest and, in the process, endangered the lives of men, women,
children, animals and law enforcement officers with a deadly weapon, his Yukon
SUV. His attempt to use the Yukon to escape made it necessary for law
enforcement to utilize deadly force to bring his unlawful and lethal evasions to
an end. The firing of shots at the driver was a reasonable use of force in
defense of a person and defense of others.
The
use of deadly force in defending a person is judged on a "case-by-case"
basis. Only such force as is reasonably needed to defend against another's
imminent use of unlawful force will be legally permissible.
The
actions of Grajeda contributed to his own death as a consequence of his attempt
to evade the police.
