Interpreter in Demand : Saigon-Born Police Officer, ‘Godsend’ to Investigators, Is Called Upon Once Again

Before Garden Grove Detective Ron Shave pulled up to a restaurant shooting early Sunday morning, he had a good idea of what to expect: Most of the witnesses probably had fled, and those still there probably wouldn’t be able to tell him what happened.

That’s the way it often is when you roll to a crime in the city’s Vietnamese district, Shave said. Many of the immigrants learned in their homeland to be suspicious of police and hesitate to get involved with police, he said. And those who are willing often know only the most basic English or none at all, he said.

According to police, shooting erupted in the Vietnamese restaurant at about 1:40 a.m. Sunday, and officers found two people dead and four wounded. Detectives say three people were involved in the shooting.

But late Monday investigators were still struggling to piece together an account of what transpired, hindered largely by conflicting accounts filtered through translators.

“In this case we probably had a hundred witnesses that disappeared,” Shave said. Almost all who remained could not communicate directly with police, he said.

So officers, as they often must, called for interpreters.

“There’s frustration in dealing with the delay,” Shave said. “Calling out an interpreter is like calling out any specialist. You have to wait and do nothing until they arrive.”

The man who arrived, whom Garden Grove Police Sgt. Bruce Beauchamp described as “a godsend,” was Westminster Officer Manh Ingwerson, probably the only Vietnamese-born police offi cer in Orange County. Law enforcement officials statewide said Monday that they know of only one other in California, an officer in San Jose.

Ingwerson remained at the scene through the night helping Garden Grove investigators try to piece together the chaotic story.

“We had a sister of one of the victims who was pretty conversant in English, and that helped quite a bit, too,” Beauchamp said.

“Occasionally, we depend on someone there to act as interpreter,” Shave said. “It’s not really good, but it’s better than waiting for an interpreter. It’s usually for an emergency-type interview: ‘What did they look like?’ and ‘Which way did they go?’ Normally, you’ll get someone who isn’t biased, but there is some risk.”

Ingwerson was not available for comment Monday.

The city’s Vietnamese-speaking police aides were hired not to help investigations but to improve relations with the Vietnamese community, Beauchamp said. “Naturally, they could be and have been used for interpretation, but basically they work a day shift,” he said.