Officer was attacked first, investigators say

An off-duty Costa Mesa police officer who shot and killed one man and wounded another in Temecula last weekend was attacked first and may have been defending himself, investigators said Tuesday.

Riverside County sheriff’s detectives based their conclusion -- vigorously denied by the dead man’s family and friends -- on interviews with witnesses they said had no connection to either group involved in the incident.

According to witnesses, problems erupted after the officer, who has not been identified, touched a woman who was with several men at the Bank of Mexican Food in Old Town Temecula a few hours after the annual Rod Run classic car show ended.

“There was contact between the officer and the female patron when the officer mistakenly took her for someone else,” said Det. Jerry Franchville, a spokesman for the Riverside County Sheriff’s Department. “He then apologized to her.”

Franchville said the officer later became ill and went outside to sit on a chair. He was then attacked from behind by four or five men, one of them possibly wielding a bar stool, Franchville said.

“He was bleeding from the head and tried to identify himself as a police officer and then tried to show his identification,” Franchville said. “He kept pleading for the men to stop attacking, and when they didn’t he pulled out a gun and fired five rounds.”

Shaun Vilan, 30, of Temecula was struck in the chest and arm and later died. Taylor Willis, 22, also of Temecula, was hit in the leg and side and remains hospitalized with non-life-threatening wounds.

The officer has been put on paid administrative leave while the investigation takes place.

Vilan’s mother, Karen Crowley, rejected Franchville’s account of what happened. She said it was her son who was attacked.

“We have many, many witnesses that saw an intoxicated police officer shooting his gun off in a crowded area,” she said. “He almost shot my 7-year-old grandson, Dillan. Taylor was laying in a fetal position and the cop kept shooting him. He was up against a dumpster because he had nowhere else to run.”

She called the investigators’ story “absolutely asinine.”

More than 200 friends and family members showed up in Old Town on Monday night to hold a vigil for Vilan.

Crowley, who has two other children, thinks her son’s past is working against him in this case. Vilan spent six years at Soledad State Prison after a 1998 conviction for assault with a deadly weapon -- hitting a man in the face with a beer bottle.

“He was unjustly treated in that case,” his mother said. “But he was smart, athletic and caring. He was always there for us. He was working as a successful day trader. He drove a BMW and was a good father to his son Dillan.”

The boy was standing near his father the night he was killed.

Vilan’s best friend, Kevin Kitley, 29, of Temecula, said it was his wife, Nicole, who was slapped by the off-duty officer.

“My wife was there and this police officer sexually assaulted her,” he said. “She was standing in the bar and this officer came up to her and slapped her [behind] so hard it hurt. He said, ‘I thought you were my sister.’ She said he appeared heavily intoxicated and was slurring his words.”

Kitley, who was not at the scene, said words were exchanged but there was no violence. But when Vilan and Willis left the restaurant, he said, they were attacked by the officer and two other men. Investigators said the officer was eating with family and friends.

“I have known Shaun since I was 10. We were pretty much joined at the hip,” Kitley said. “This is completely out of character for him. He wasn’t an aggressor. He did have a past and they will totally play off it. When he was in jail, he got a business degree from the University of Indiana.”

The family has hired two attorneys to represent them in a possible lawsuit.

“If this was Shaun and a regular person, then we could take action. But because it’s a police officer, everything is secret,” Kitley said. “We have been kept totally in the dark about this investigation.”

Franchville denied allegations that the officer is getting special treatment. He said he could not comment on whether the officer’s blood-alcohol level was tested.

“But we are looking into whether alcohol was a factor in this,” he said.

A report eventually will be sent to the Riverside County district attorney’s office to determine whether charges will be filed.

Sgt. Bryan Glass, a spokesman for the Costa Mesa Police Department, said there was nothing unusual about putting the officer on paid leave.

“This is standard for any incident where an officer is being investigated,” he said. “He was treated at the hospital on Sunday and released to go home and recover.”

Glass said the officer’s identity is not being released for fear it could jeopardize his safety. He said Riverside County was handling the incident and that he was unaware of any internal investigation.

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david.kelly@latimes.com