SoCal Police's Blood Money

5-9-2013 California:

When the DA declines to prosecute bad cops, the only justice families can get is financial

Dec. 12, 2010, was a reasonably nice day in Long Beach, hitting a high of 64 degrees. On that late-Sunday afternoon, the streets of Belmont Shore were full of people returning from the beach, shopping or just enjoying the day. One of them, Doug Zerby, 35, was sitting on the porch of a friend's home in the 5300 block of East Ocean Boulevard just after 4:30 p.m. He had been drinking and was idly playing with a metal object.

A neighbor, Gordon Moore, was inside his home with his father-in-law when he saw Zerby in the back yard. Moore thought Zerby had a gun. He asked his father-in-law what it looked like to him. He also thought Zerby had a gun. Moore said later he was concerned for the safety of his wife and mother-in-law, who soon would return from shopping. Moore called 911 around 4:40 p.m., reporting a man with a small "six-shooter" in his back yard.

The first officer to arrive, Victor Ortiz, got to the scene just three minutes later. After talking to Moore about the "man with a gun," Ortiz got his shotgun and set up in Moore's living room, about 40 feet from Zerby. The next officer, Jeffrey Shurtleff, arrived around 4:45 p.m. and positioned himself in the kitchen, less than 25 feet from Zerby.

The officers later told the Long Beach Police Department (LBPD) and Los Angeles County investigators they watched Zerby manipulating what they thought was a handgun and pointing it toward an apartment building. Another officer arrived around 4:50 with an assault rifle with telescopic sights. He set up in front of the house, less than 60 feet away.

At this point, the LBPD and LA County reports claimed, Zerby grew more alert as he heard police sirens. "Mr. Zerby raised both arms and extended them out in front of himself while pointing the object believed to be a handgun toward Officer Ortiz." Officer Shurtleff opened fire on the man with his Glock 40-caliber handgun.

Ortiz claimed Zerby was looking directly at him in the living room when he raised the gun-shaped object. Ortiz released the safety on his shotgun. According to the LA district attorney's report, when he heard gunshots, "believing that Zerby was shooting at him, Ortiz fired his shotgun at Zerby. . . . The combination of Zerby pointing the object directly at him coupled with the sound of Shurtleff's gunshots led Ortiz to conclude that he was under attack. Ortiz fired to end this threat." ..continued.. by MICHAEL GOLDSTEIN