LOS ANGELES COUNTY : Fired Deputy Gets OK to Fight Reinstatement Review

A sheriff’s deputy fired for killing an unarmed 15-year-old car theft suspect in 1991 will get a chance March 25 to fight a move to block his return to work.

Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Robert O’Brien on Wednesday set the hearing date for Jose Belmares, who wants to stop the county from convening a second session to determine if his reinstatement should be reversed.

Belmares contends it would amount to double jeopardy if a second hearing is held to determine if he was acting according to policy when he shot David Angel Ortiz after an early morning chase on Aug. 28, 1991. The Montebello youth was a suspected car thief and gang member who fled on foot from Belmares and his partner, Robert Orona, after the chase ended in a cul-de-sac in Artesia.

The Sheriff’s Department fired Belmares. But in an administrative appeal, a civil service officer found that the shooting was within policy and that Belmares should be reinstated.

The Los Angeles County Civil Service Commission voted 3 to 2 to reinstate him. But at the urging of attorney Miguel Garcia, who represents the Ortiz family, the commission reversed its decision in December and ordered another hearing. It is set for May 2 unless O’Brien agrees to stop it, Belmares’ attorney Elizabeth Gibbons said.