Officer not charged in killing of sunbather
An Oxnard police officer who ran over and killed a female sunbather while on beach patrol in an SUV will not face criminal charges, though the accident is a “great tragedy,” the Ventura County district attorney’s office said Wednesday.
Senior Officer Frank Brisslinger drove a Chevy Tahoe directly over Cindy Conolly, 49, as she lay on Mandalay Beach last June. But prosecutors cannot prove that he was driving negligently at the time of the incident, according to a 54-page report released by Dist. Atty. Gregory Totten.
Mark Hiepler, an attorney for Conolly’s family, said the report makes clear that her death was caused by “Oxnard’s gross negligence.” He has filed a $10-million civil lawsuit against the city on behalf of Conolly’s children, who live in Minnesota.
The city’s attorney, Alan Wisotsky, could not be reached for comment. But he has said the city has claimed responsibility for the accident and is eager to settle with the family.
The district attorney’s office focused on two main elements in making its decision. Investigators found that Brisslinger didn’t see the slight berm, or Conolly lying parallel to it, as he made a routine beach patrol with his partner, Officer Martin Polo.
Also, the Oxnard Police Department had never trained Brisslinger, or other officers, in how to safely navigate vehicles while on the beach.
At the time of the accident, the department had no such guidelines or policies in place, the report said.
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