SJPD: Officer Fatally Shot Wanted Man Who Reached For Gun During Traffic Stop
SAN JOSE (CBS SF) -- A police officer on Saturday fatally shot a 29-year-old Aptos man when the man reached for the officer's gun, San Jose Police Chief Eddie Garcia said Tuesday.
The Aptos man, whose name has not been released, died Saturday along state Highway 85 during a vehicle stop on the southbound side of the highway.
Police said investigators with the department's Violent Crimes Enforcement Team were surveilling the 29-year-old after a previous October 24 altercation with officers along Stevens Creek Boulevard and North Monroe Street.
That's where the man, who was out of jail on early-release probation for a felony conviction, allegedly rammed his vehicle into a police patrol vehicle during a car stop.
He apparently fled the scene of the stop and police chased him briefly before stopping the pursuit. Officers later obtained warrants to arrest the suspect.
Police found the man at 3:09 p.m. Saturday in the passenger seat of a vehicle his father was driving on southbound Highway 85. Officers told the man to get out of the vehicle but he would not,
Garcia said.
The man's father reached across the vehicle and opened the passenger side door in an attempt to get his son to exit, Garcia said.
Shortly after that the suspect pulled a loaded Glock 9mm pistol with an extended magazine from his waistband, according to Garcia. Two officers got into an altercation with the suspect. One officer attempted to wrestle the suspect's weapon away from him while the second officer, Sgt. Lee Tassio, reportedly shot the suspect with a Tazer.
The Tazer shot did not incapacitate the suspect, according to Garcia, and Tassio fired a bullet at the suspect after the 29-year-old reportedly reached for Tassio's gun. The bullet killed the man. The man had multiple prior convictions for offenses such as arson, burglary and grand theft auto, according to police.
This is the fourth officer-involved shooting in San Jose this year, Garcia said.
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