LOS ANGELES : 3 Contradict Officer in Tow Truck Driver’s Slaying

Three witnesses testified Tuesday that no one was in the path of a moving tow truck before its driver was shot to death by a Los Angeles police officer.

In addition, two of the witnesses said the tow truck driver seemed to have been making sure that no one was in his way by waving his hands.

Even after driver John Daniels was mortally wounded, one of the witnesses testified, he seemed to deliberately veer his vehicle to avoid hitting a car.

The testimony came during a hearing to determine whether Officer Douglas Iversen will stand trial on a murder charge. He is the first Los Angeles County law enforcement officer in more than a decade to be charged with murder in an on-duty incident.

Iversen has contended that he shot Daniels, 36, at a Southwest Los Angeles gas station last year because he feared Daniels’ truck would hit passersby. The officer and his partner were on their way to an emergency call when they saw Daniels’ truck and pulled into the gas station on motorcycles.