Riverside Looks at Options for Fired Officer in Miller Shooting

The Riverside City Council will discuss today whether to accept a court ruling and reinstate one of the four police officers fired after Tyisha Miller was shot to death in her car more than four years ago.

A Superior Court judge has ordered the city to allow Wayne Stewart to return to his job, but community groups are urging the council to fight the ruling.

In December 1998, Miller, 19, locked herself into her disabled car at a service station and passed out with a gun in her lap.

When police officers broke a window to try to get her medical aid, Miller awakened with a start and allegedly reached for the gun. The policemen fired 12 times.

The four officers were subsequently cleared of criminal wrongdoing.

In a closed session today, the City Council is scheduled to discuss an April 25 order by a Superior Court judge that it reinstate Stewart with back pay. Some council members have indicated interest in a settlement instead. Appealing the ruling, they fear, might mean a larger check to Stewart.