Wounded CHP Officer Critical but Conscious

California Highway Patrol Officer Rafael “Ralph” Casillas was conscious Thursday but remained in critical condition as dozens of people donated blood for the wounded 31-year-old who one colleague called “the epitome of the highway patrolman.”

“He was always working out, always courteous, always dressed to a T,” Officer Dennis Yates said. Then Yates paused. “Don’t let me speak of him in the past tense, please.”

An eight-year CHP veteran, Casillas was shot in the abdomen below his bulletproof vest, and in the wrist and thigh after a high-speed chase early Wednesday morning. Terry James Parker, a 25-year-old Granada Hills resident with a long arrest record, was shot and killed three hours later after firing at three Los Angeles police officers who were searching for him, authorities said.

As the police investigation revealed more of ex-convict Parker’s troubled past, Casillas family members and friends kept vigil at his bedside in Holy Cross Medical Center in Mission Hills.

“We spoke to the doctor this morning, and he said [Casillas is] holding steady,” said his sister, Theresa Gonzalez, who also thanked the hundreds of police officers and citizens who have offered support. “He’s a strong guy, he really is.”

Casillas was described as a lean, muscular man and a cop’s cop, a giving man who was the life of a party, even though he didn’t drink.

Born in Santa Monica in 1965, Casillas was raised by his parents in North Hills along with sisters and an older brother, according to friends.

A deeply religious, conservative man, according to friends, he attended Monroe High School in North Hills and took classes at Cal State Northridge before joining the CHP in 1988. He spent six years at the West Valley station before transferring to Newhall.

After eight years on the job, CHP officials said, Casillas--who loves classic Chevrolet Chevelles and Harley-Davidson motorcycles--could have had his choice of shifts. He chose graveyards because with the night came the action.

“If there was an incident, he was there,” West Valley Officer Dena Yates said with a smile. “He never missed the action.”

At about 5 feet, 5 inches tall, Casillas does not cut an especially imposing figure, but he trains with weights and exudes a confidence that arrestees understand immediately, friends said.

A cop who “loves arresting people,” Yates said, Casillas is also known for being generous and caring.

It was hard to become his partner at West Valley, friends said, because everyone wanted to work with him.

“He was incredibly popular [with everyone] from jailers to tow-truck drivers, to officers,” West Valley Officer Kirk Paulson said. “Even most people he arrested were pretty friendly with him. They’d . . . shake his hand by the end of the night.”

Several years ago, friends said, Casillas bought an old hearse, one of many Halloween decorations he rolled out each year for the neighborhood.

Kids lined up for more than an hour to go through his newly haunted house.

For CHP Officer James Portilla, who officials said risked his life to drag the wounded Casillas away from the shooting scene, Wednesday was the first time he had worked with the man.

“It was like I’d known him for years,” Portilla said. “We hit it off right off the bat. Then everything went bad.”

As the investigation continued, officials probed Parker’s long history with the law. He had a lengthy rap sheet, including numerous arrests as a juvenile, and a history of psychiatric problems.

In 1994, LAPD officers shot and wounded Parker during an incident that also started after Parker was spotted speeding. Both this week and in 1994, Parker fled police trying to pull him over for a traffic violation, took the same exit off the San Diego Freeway, and holed up in the Granada Hills home he shared with his father.

Officials released a probation report showing he had eight convictions, including evading an officer, discharging a weapon, drunk driving and cocaine possession.

According to a 1994 probation report, Parker did not complete drug and alcohol programs, either because he dropped out or he was arrested.

As a youngster, Parker was arrested for marijuana possession as well as using a car without a license and without the owner’s permission. He was placed on probation for a variety of similar offenses.

“It looks like everyone along the way saw this person’s obvious problems. They’re very well documented,” said Steve Cooley, head deputy of the San Fernando branch of the district attorney’s office.

Ten days after Parker entered prison in 1994 following convictions for shooting incidents and drug possession, he received a psychiatric evaluation and was given two mood-altering drugs that he took throughout his 20-month term, according to Department of Corrections officials. He did not receive counseling while in prison, the officials said.

When he was released June 20, Parker was not referred for psychiatric counseling primarily because parole officials did not know how to reach him and because they were attempting to release him to Arizona to live with his father, who also owns a house there, prison officials said.

Parker served about half of his sentence, which was three years and eight months. Days were shaved off his sentence because he worked and attended classes, and he also was given credit for serving 151 days in county jail, officials said.

During his prison term, he was kept in the general population except for a brief time in August 1995 when he was removed for a fistfight, corrections officials said.

Parker’s driver’s license had been suspended four times and was finally revoked in 1994, after numerous drunk-driving arrests, according to the state Department of Motor Vehicles. His father, James Parker, said he thought the specter of more prison time may have contributed to his son’s actions.

“He was drinking again, and I think he was speeding, which was automatically a violation of parole,” his father said.

On Thursday, the LAPD continued its review of Parker’s death by three Metropolitan officers whose police dogs had discovered the suspect on a nearby hillside, said Cmdr. Tim McBride.

While McBride would not reveal how many shots were fired at Parker, he said it did not appear to be excessive. Further, he said the initial investigation shows that Parker fired first because detectives apparently found a bullet casing from the handgun near the 25-year-old’s body.

Slater is a staff writer. Satzman is a correspondent. Staff writers Beth Shuster and Ann W. O’Neill and correspondent John M. Gonzales contributed to this story.

* IN THE LINE OF FIRE

Shooting is reminder that routine patrols can turn deadly. B1