Los Angeles County prosecutors have determined that Pasadena police were justified in fatally shooting a 47-year-old man who immediately fired through his front windshield at officers after a nearly half-hour pursuit that ended with a slow-speed, head-on collision with a patrol car.
In a memorandum involving Lloyd Nelson Jr.’s May 8, 2020, shooting death, the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office concluded that officers Connor Duncan, Abelardo Blanchet, Kourtney Zilbert and Christian Arteaga “acted in lawful self-defense and in defense of others.”
Nelson, a San Diego resident, was identified in media reports shortly after the shooting as a former U.S. Marine who had worked at one point as a Los Angeles County public safety officer.
Nelson — who allegedly was spotted making an illegal U-turn and parking his car in the middle of the street on Colorado Boulevard — led police on a lengthy pursuit that was called off at one point, then tracked by helicopter before officers were advised to intervene again because of his erratic driving, according to the document.
Nelson’s vehicle was rammed multiple times by patrol vehicles during the latter part of the chase, with the Mitsubishi eventually colliding with one of the patrol cars and another patrol car colliding with the back of Nelson’s vehicle, according to the document.
“Upon coming to a stop, Nelson began firing a gun at officers through his front windshield. Nelson got out of the car and continued shooting at officers, who returned fire,” according to the document, which noted that another Pasadena police officer who wasn’t involved in the gunfire was struck by “friendly fire.”
Nelson, who suffered 16 gunshot wounds and died at the scene, had used a .45-caliber semi-automatic firearm and two other loaded firearms were found inside his vehicle, according to the memorandum.
In a separate document, prosecutors concluded that Los Angeles Police Department officers Edgar Simental, Joseph Fluty and Ruben Ovsepyan “acted in lawful self-defense” when they fired at Christopher Garcia, who emerged from his Honda sedan with what appeared to be a semiautomatic pistol, refused officers’ demands to drop the weapon and suddenly walked toward two officers and aimed the weapon at them in the Pacoima area on June 28, 2021.
“Garcia was armed with a black metal BB gun similar in appearance to a semiautomatic pistol. Investigators recovered the weapon from the scene. Garcia is seen in BWV (body-worn camera video) footage walking toward the officers and suddenly pointing the gun as several rapid shots ring out,” according to the memorandum from the District Attorney’s Office on that shooting.
“The officers acted reasonably under the circumstances known at the time, and this conclusion is not altered by the hindsight knowledge that Garcia was armed with a BB gun,” according to the document.
Police had initially tried to stop the 26-year-old man for speeding in a Honda sedan, then followed him onto northbound Interstate 5, where officers spotted the vehicle on a dirt embankment of the Terra Bella Street freeway off-ramp, according to the memorandum, which noted that he suffered eight gunshot wounds including a fatal shot to the back. He was pronounced dead at the hospital that morning.