Shooting by San Diego Police Officer His 3rd in 10 Years on Force

The San Diego police officer who killed Tommie C. Dubose while serving a search warrant at Dubose’s home March 12 has been involved in at least two other shootings, both while he was off duty and both after minor traffic disputes.

Officer Carlos Garcia, who joined the Police Department 10 years ago, stood in his front yard in El Cajon and shot a man in the chest in 1979, moments after the man followed Garcia home.

In 1984, Garcia killed a man and wounded his brother after the brothers sideswiped Garcia’s car and Garcia chased them to a Logan Heights parking lot.

In 1986, Garcia drew public attention when he shot and killed a pit bull dog because it was attacking a smaller dog.

In each incident, the officer has been backed up by the Police Department, and his use of his gun has been deemed justifiable.

Police Chief Bill Kolender and other top police officials said Monday that, while Garcia has been involved in more shootings than most officers, his past record has no bearing on the investigation of the Dubose case.

But Herb Cawthorne, executive director of San Diego Urban League, said the number of shootings by Garcia suggests that police should take a harder look at the Dubose shooting.

Garcia, 32, could not be reached for comment Monday.

Police had refused to publicly reveal Garcia’s name, but confirmed Monday that Garcia was the officer who shot Dubose and that he has been involved in the past shootings. Since Dubose was killed, Garcia has been assigned to administrative duties, police said.

At the time of the Dubose shooting, Garcia was working undercover with the department’s special Narcotics Task Force when he and Officer Andy Rios served a search warrant at the Dubose home near 50th Street and Federal Boulevard.

Top police officials have said the officers, looking through the window, saw Dubose, 56, running toward the back of the house and they thought he might be going for a weapon or to hide drugs. The officers broke the door open and burst into the room. Dubose turned and tossed a glass of wine in Rios’ face, police said.

Struggle for Gun

There was a struggle for Rios’ gun and Garcia fired five shots, striking Dubose each time, Assistant Chief Bob Burgreen said.

“The gun was in his hands,” Burgreen said about Dubose. “When he was shot, he fell. And when he hit the floor, he had the gun in his hands.”

Burgreen and other top police officials have said that the officers acted “correctly and properly.” On Saturday, after members of the minority community called for an independent review of the shooting, Police Chief Bill Kolender agreed to ask the county grand jury to investigate the Dubose shooting.

Cawthorne, who originally called for the grand jury investigation, expressed shock when he was told of Garcia’s record as a police officer.

“This adds an entirely new flavor to the community’s concerns about what could have been avoided,” Cawthorne said. “This raises serious questions which the leadership of the Police Department ought to be concerned about.”

Kolender, who said he was familiar with Garcia’s record, defended the officer, saying that both the police and the county district attorney’s office have ruled that Garcia was justified each time he pulled the trigger.

Asked whether the Dubose shooting suggests that Garcia has a propensity for using his gun, the chief said: “It’s just one incident.”

Asked whether he thought Garcia has been involved in too many shootings, Kolender said: “Maybe. But it depends on the unit you’re working.”

Burgreen also defended Garcia, but conceded that it was rare that one officer would be involved in so many shootings. He noted that he was a patrolman for 10 years and never fired his gun, but twice came very close.

Burgreen said: “Most of our officers are not involved in shootings that number of times. But we look at each individual shooting and judge it on its own merits.”

Several Investigations

He said the Dubose shooting is being scrutinized by the Police Department’s Internal Affairs Unit, the district attorney’s office and, soon, the grand jury. He said that if each panel determines that Garcia acted properly, the officer then may be returned to the field, but only if he is first examined and declared fit by a police psychiatrist.

“We’ll make sure he is fully fit before he goes back,” Burgreen said.

Cawthorne said that the police decision to immediately defend Garcia, particularly in light of the number of shootings, shows a disregard for the community’s serious concerns about excessive police force.

He said that 85 percent of the officers are hard-working public servants.

“They deserve to have leadership that weeds out the ones that give them all the bad reputation,” he said. “But the administration spends its time defending the ones who don’t deserve to have a gun or a badge.

‘Circles Its Wagons’

“The biggest weakness of the Police Department is that it circles its wagons every time without giving itself the benefit of reflection and thought,” he added.

“If the police bureau can say now that he (Garcia) will be back on the street, no questions asked, then what confidence do we have? It minimizes our belief that the police can police themselves.”

The first shooting involving Garcia occurred during his second year on the department.

According to police, Garcia was driving his personal car about 2 a.m. one night in July, 1979, when Anthony Gagliardo, 23, yelled an obscenity at him from a parked car, then followed Garcia to his home in El Cajon. Garcia jumped from his car and attempted to run inside his house, but dropped his keys. He turned around and saw Gagliardo running after him with a 26-inch stick.

Garcia Showed Badge

According to the district attorney’s report, Garcia identified himself by displaying his badge, but Gagliardo continued to threaten him, and Garcia shot him once in the stomach.

Three months later, Garcia was one of two officers singled out for firing when 13 officers stationed in San Ysidro staged a sickout. Such a planned concerted job action, or strike, by peace officers was not allowed under the City Charter.

But then-Deputy Police Chief Kenneth O’Brien’s recommendation that Garcia be fired was dropped after it was determined that police hearings held to investigate the sickout were unconstitutional because the officers were not allowed to call witnesses in their own behalf.

In April, 1984, Garcia, while off duty, fatally shot Walter Ray Bradley, 26, and wounded his brother, Cornell Bradley, 24.

Garcia was returning home from visiting his parents when the Bradleys sideswiped his car. Garcia followed them to a parking lot at 345 Hoitt St., where they faced off.

“Garcia was in casual clothes with his weapon in his waist band underneath his shirt,” the district attorney’s office said in its review of the shooting. “He showed his badge and identified himself as a police officer, but still the suspects advanced toward him.”

Walter Bradley flashed a gun and Garcia fired four shots, hitting him at least three times. He then fired his gun a fifth time, striking Cornell Bradley in the elbow. Officials later concluded that the Bradleys had just stolen the car they were driving from a car rental agency.

“Officer Garcia acted according to law, regulation, reason and necessity,” the district attorney ruled.

In 1986, Garcia was among three officers who were sued by an Asian boy and his mother who contended that the police officers twice falsely arrested the youth because they suspected he was a gang member.

They alleged in their suit that Garcia, Rios and Officer Robert Aceves twice arrested 15-year-old Bao Hoang on suspicion of assault with a deadly weapon. The suit said that all charges were later dropped, and that the arrests were part of a harassment campaign by police to connect certain Asian, Hispanic and black youths with various gangs.

“As a result of these false charges and arrests,” the suit said, Bao “was imprisoned and suffered loss of his liberty for a total of 50 days, was forced to undergo court proceedings in Juvenile Court, subjected to humiliation and severe emotional distress, and feared for his safety.” The trial is pending.

Steven R. Gustavson, a deputy city attorney, responded that the officers “acted in good faith and with a reasonable belief that their conduct was lawful and necessary.”

Also in 1986, Garcia killed a pit bull after the animal attacked a smaller dog near 56th Street and Madison Avenue. Garcia felled the dog with a single shot. He had been called to the scene on a report that a dog was biting people, but no human dog-bite victims were found, police said.