Officer Who Shot O.C. Driver in Dispute Fired

Police this week fired a veteran officer who they said shot a man “intentionally and without justification” while off duty during a traffic dispute in Fountain Valley two months ago, the officer’s attorney said Tuesday.

The move angered the lawyer for fired Long Beach Police Cpl. Alan B. Ice as well as the head of the police union, who both charged that the department acted too quickly against the 21-year veteran without giving him the chance to clear himself in court.

Ice, 45, faces felony assault charges stemming from the Sept. 28 traffic dispute in Fountain Valley that quickly escalated into a shooting. Neil Cramer, 36, a Santa Ana carpenter, was hospitalized with a bullet wound to the chest. He is recovering.

One of only two police officers charged in recent years in a local shooting, Ice is scheduled for a Dec. 20 preliminary hearing in Orange County Municipal Court. If convicted of assault with a deadly weapon, he faces up to 10 years in prison. He is now free in lieu of $25,000 bail.

Ice, a Fountain Valley resident, was suspended without pay from the Long Beach force after the shooting and was fired on Monday. Police officials would not discuss the dismissal, but said in a letter to Ice that he had fired his weapon “in a negligent manner.”

The dismissal letter, signed by Assistant Police Chief Eugene Brizzolara and Assistant City Manager John Shirey, also said Ice “unnecessarily involved (himself) in a dispute over a traffic violation” and then “unnecessarily armed” himself, according to one of Ice’s attorneys, James E. Trott.

The confrontation began when Cramer, driving his fiancee and his 11-year-old daughter in his truck, swerved to avoid a fallen cyclist. Words broke out between him and Ice, who was driving behind him on Ward Avenue.

Ice has maintained that as they traded barbs at a traffic light, he saw Cramer reach for something in his truck--perhaps a weapon. Ice said he feared for his safety and pulled out his 9-millimeter handgun, which went off accidentally as he tried to leave the scene.

Cramer, however, said that Ice pointed the gun at him before firing. Cramer has denied reaching for anything. But his 11-year-old daughter, Autumn, told police her father reached behind him in the truck for a hammer, according to court documents.

Cramer’s attorney, Dennis Minna, said he was pleased to learn that Ice had been “terminated”--but not surprised.

“What Ice did to to Cramer was unbelievable,” Minna said. Cramer “has still not been back to work. Nothing has been back to normal for him.”

Ice could not be reached for comment Tuesday. But attorney Trott, representing him before the police force, and Long Beach Police Officers Assn. President Paul Chastain said they plan to appeal the dismissal to the city’s Civil Service Commission.

In Orange County, authorities incurred some criticism for waiting 10 days after the shooting to arrest Ice. But Trott and Chastain criticized the Long Beach police for just the opposite reason: rushing to judgment in first suspending Ice and then firing him.

“We’re upset because they fired him so quickly. They didn’t even wait for his preliminary hearing,” Chastain said.

The Long Beach police union has rallied behind Ice, calling the shooting an accident and saying that anyone with law enforcement training would also have been suspicious of Cramer and would have wondered whether he was reaching for a weapon.

Ice “pulled out his weapon in self-defense,” Chastain said. “It was strictly an accident. That will be proven in court.”

Trott said Ice followed his instincts in pulling out his weapon. Cramer had “reached down to grab something,” Trott said.

In a related development, Ice and another officer who was recently fired from the department expect to file a lawsuit today in U.S. District Court in Los Angeles against Long Beach Police Chief Lawrence Binkley and the city, demanding back pay on grounds they were unfairly suspended before departmental hearings.

The second officer, Sgt. Robert Ballew, charged with the attempted rape of a woman last September and the rape of another woman six years ago, initially was suspended without pay and then was fired last month, Trott said.

It is unusual for the department to suspend officers without pay before their in-house hearings, officials say. Trott maintains that it is also unconstitutional. “Our position on the law is that you can suspend them after the hearing, but not before,” he said.

Times staff writer Thuan Le contributed to this report.