Anaheim Officer Fired In Shooting Death Of 50-Year-Old Eliuth Nava; Bodycam Video Released
ANAHEIM (CBSLA) – One Anaheim police officer has been fired and a second is facing department discipline for shooting and killing a 50-year-old man during a slow-speed pursuit through a residential neighborhood last July.
The firing comes just after Orange County District Attorney's Office Wednesday released alarming and violent dashcam and bodycam video from the July 21, 2018, shooting of Eliuth Penaloza Nava.
According to the report from the DA's office, officers Sean Staymates and Kevin Pedersen fired on Nava a staggering 76 times.
"The fact that the two involved officers discharged their weapons 76 times, from a moving patrol car at Nava's moving car, at approximately 9:30 a.m. on a Saturday morning, in a residential neighborhood where residents, including children, were home and on the streets, was alarming and irresponsible based on the totality of all the circumstances in this specific case," Deputy District Attorney Scott Wooldridge wrote in his analysis.
While Wooldridge found that the officers acted irresponsibly, he determined there was "a lack of sufficient evidence" to bring criminal charges against the officers.
Later Wednesday, Anaheim police announced that one of the officers had been fired and the second was facing discipline.
On the morning of July 21, the officers were called to a home in the 500 block of W. West Street on a report from Nava's family that he was acting erratically, appeared to be on drugs and may be armed.
Officers arrived to find him sitting his car, which was parked outside his family's home. He then drove away, prompting a slow-speed chase. During the pursuit, the officers saw him waving a gun and opened fire on him throughout the pursuit.
It was later determined that Nava was in fact carrying a CO2 air pistol BB gun. An autopsy determined he sustained at least nine gunshot wounds.
(© Copyright 2019 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. City News Service contributed to this report.)
