Sad Family Doesn’t See Why Young Man’s Death Had to Be

Relatives of Mario Neri Villanueva say they don’t understand why up to five police officers shot and killed the 24-year-old landscaper Sunday afternoon in a secluded corner of Bonita Park.

They know that Villanueva drank at least 10 beers at home on Sunday and went for a walk about 3 p.m with a gun tucked into his waistband. They described the gun as broken and useless.

Police say that an hour later, Villanueva pulled the gun on several police officers at the park and he was shot. Witnesses say police fired at least six times, killing the San Clemente resident.

Although friends and relatives insist that Villanueva wasn’t violent and was unlikely to brandish a weapon at police, no witnesses have come up to support either side.

“It’ll probably go down as the word of the police against a person who has died,” said Patricia Khachadoorian, who lives across the street from the park. “I feel for (the family); they’ve had someone ripped out of their lives. But I feel for the police, too.”

After drinking beer, Villanueva left his apartment, but not before stumbling down the steps outside and opening a small gash in his forehead, said his sister, Marta Villanueva. As he walked shirtless down an alley toward the park, a passerby saw the blood along with the gun and called police.

Several patrol units spotted Mario Villanueva lying on his back underneath a tree in the nearby park.

“They told him in English and Spanish to put his gun down and not to move,” said San Clemente Sgt. Jim Thomas, who declined to name the officers involved. “He sat up and pulled the gun from his waistband.”

In his home across the street, Bob Saari saw two small groups of police officers approach Mario Villanueva from different angles and stop about 50 feet from the man. He went inside and told his wife to take cover as the first shots rang out.

“There was lots of bullets flying around and lots of excitement,” Saari said. “When I looked up, I saw maybe five policemen standing over him with their guns drawn.”

Thomas said he didn’t know exactly how many shots were fired or where Mario Villanueva was hit. He referred further questions to the district attorney’s office, which is investigating Villanueva’s death.

Assistant Dist. Atty. Christoper J. Evans said county policy would only allow him to confirm Villanueva’s identity.

Even if the district attorney’s office finds the shooting justified, Marta Villanueva said, the police acted badly after her brother died.

The 34-year-old woman said she was forced to wait behind police barricades for hours without confirmation of her brother’s death.

Villanueva and people living next to the park also criticized the police for calling U.S. Border Patrol agents and helicopters to disperse a crowd of about 25 to 40 Latinos who had gathered near the site of the shooting.

About 15 squad cars from the Border Patrol and the State Beach police sped into the park at about 9 p.m. and the crowd scattered.

“I don’t know why they do this to us,” Marta Villanueva said. “Mario was not a criminal. We are not criminals.”

San Clemente Police Chief Mike Sorg said the crowd was getting ugly and threw several rocks and bottles at police. Several were struck glancing blows and one officer was injured slightly, he said.

But Saari and Khachadoorian said the crowd was generally peaceful.

“I didn’t see any rocks thrown, although I suppose it could have happened,” Saari said. “(The crowd) didn’t seem angry, just very sad. I think it was overkill on the part of the police.”

Sorg said Marta Villanueva was forced to wait because police could not allow potential evidence to be disturbed.

“So much of our ability to piece together a case is based on the way the scene is set up, how things are positioned,” he said. “We couldn’t touch anything because the case is being investigated by the district attorney’s office.”

Thomas added that police explained in English and Spanish to the whole crowd, including Marta Villanueva, why nobody could go through the barricades.

The woman and her husband, Omar Hernandez, said they were told nothing by police until 7:30 p.m. when they told them Mario Villanueva was dead.

At one point, the woman tried to break through police lines, only to be restrained and led back to her husband.

On Monday, the couple and three other family members sat on couches in their two-bedroom apartment in San Clemente and tried to deal with the death of Mario Villanueva.

Hernandez said the family depended on his brother-in-law both emotionally and financially.

“He was always happy and had many friends. He had a sweetheart in Mexico and was sending money for his (and Marta Villanueva’s) mother and father,” Hernandez said. “He helped us. I don’t care what (police) say, he was not a criminal. He was my brother.”