Patterico's Pontifications

2/27/2006

Suspected Drunk Driver Who Killed CHP Officer Most Likely Illegal — and We’ll Be Reading About This in the L.A. Times Real Soon

Filed under: Crime,Immigration — Patterico @ 7:34 pm



This is a follow-up to my post this morning about the drunk driver who killed a CHP officer. It turns out that there is clear evidence that points to the possibility that the drunk driver is an illegal immigrant. (Thanks to commenter steve for the link.) Barstow’s Desert Dispatch newspaper reports about the suspected drunk driver, Domingo Esqueda:

Esqueda had a blood alcohol level nearly three times the legal limit, [CHP Sgt. Kevin] Eads said. He did not have a valid driver’s license. What he did have was a fake identification card, a Mexican identification card and other identification all with different names and different variations of names, Eads said.

This is a strong indication that Esqueda is illegal and never should have been in this country in the first place. If this turns out to be true, this is news. If Esqueda was illegal, then when the topic of illegal immigration comes up, you can factor into the costs of illegal immigration the life of CHP officer Gregory Bailey, a “10-year veteran of the California Highway Patrol, Iraqi war veteran, husband, [and] father of four.”

Since the benefits and costs of illegal immigration are among the most important issues facing Southern California, you can bet that the paper of record in the region will be all over this important story like white on rice.

As of tomorrow morning, the L.A. Times can no longer justify its failure to report this information by reference to deadline pressures — that is, unless Times editors want to admit that they are unable to come up with information that was printed today by the Barstow Desert-Dispatch.

I expect to see this story prominently displayed in tomorrow’s California section, with a follow-up story yet to be printed concerning the topic of Esqueda’s immigration status.

I would expect nothing less from the L.A. Times.

Right?

P.S. Is the name of the slain officer “John” Bailey, as the L.A. Times reported this morning, or “Gregory” Bailey, as the Desert Dispatch reported? Or is it both?

P.P.S. It’s both. This story explains it’s Gregory John Bailey.

P.P.P.S. I have written the Times‘s Readers’ Representative with the relevant links and information.

15 Responses to “Suspected Drunk Driver Who Killed CHP Officer Most Likely Illegal — and We’ll Be Reading About This in the L.A. Times Real Soon”

  1. And let’s not forget the cases where officers are just wounded

    A Mira Loma man who allegedly shot and wounded a California Highway Patrol officer in Ontario last week has been captured in Kansas, police said Monday.

    Jaime Zavala Garcia, 37, was arrested in Liberal, Kan., on Sunday afternoon with his brother, Antonio Garcia Zavala of Hesperia, who was booked on suspicion of aiding and harboring a fugitive.

    Authorities allege that Garcia shot five-year veteran Officer Marlin Eugene Pressley Jr., 27, during a traffic stop on southbound Interstate 15 on Friday afternoon. Garcia fled, and left the Pontiac Firebird he was driving at a Riverside County motel, authorities said.

    […]

    CHP Assistant Chief Mike Maples said Garcia was an illegal Mexican immigrant whose Pontiac was to be impounded because he was an unlicensed driver. Maples said investigators had yet to establish whether Garcia had been told that the car would be impounded before he allegedly opened fire, “but Officer Pressley was filling out the paperwork” when the shooting occurred.

    I forgotten what’s going on with this case. I’ll check the status of that one and see what info I can gather on the new one tomorrow.

    Darleen (f20213)

  2. I will post this again. I said it before all of the above became news.

    I’d think the LAT would have a policy of reporting all basic biographical background essential to truthfully retelling the story; nationality, whether actual or fraudulently claimed, is certainly central to the many stories. Do you know if they have that kind of policy? Did you, Patterico, try to find out before speculating that it doesn’t?

    From the last few days’ reporting, there’s evidence they do: For example, the LAT didn’t hesitate to identify the maniac who split the Enzo at 170 mph on the PCH as a Swedish millionaire.

    That kind of factual info gives us a fair idea of ‘what happened.’

    Same with a their reporting on the capture of the cop-killer Armando Barcia Arroyo. The LAT, in its Feb 24, ‘06 article, quoted investigators, “who they said was an illegal immigrant and drug dealer.”

    On the the other hand, Steve has a great point: the Desert Dispatch didn’t seem to have any problem getting the info about Esqueda’s various aliases, which certainly suggest he was an illegal immigrant.

    A bit of perspective: Looking bact to local journalism from the ’60s and ’70s quickly shows the pernicious side of racial detailing of ‘detail’ if it’s not balanced and consistent. Back then, blacks caught committing crimes were invariably described as negro males, or black males; while, on the other hand, the “race” of whites (or Jews or Chinese or whatever) was rarely identified in newsprint. From the perspective of ‘06, the practice back then was embarrassingly racist.

    So, what kind of background information is relevant. And when? How do journos today draw tht line, or lines, between accurate reporting, or erring political correctness, or erring on the side of racism — or simply not having the time to get all the information by deadline?

    jmaharry (74c3ec)

  3. Of course, I suppose that legal immigrants never run down CHP officers. And native-born citizens never do. And neither legal immigrants nor native-born citizens ever get drunk and drive.
    But maybe the legal status of the driver is a terrific, highly correlative, factor in (a) hit-and-runs on CHP officers, and (b) DUIs. Maybe the percentage of suspects in such cases who are illegals is materially higher than the percentage of legals. Maybe the percentage of illegals who are involved in hit-and-runs on CHP officers and/or DUIs is much greater than that of legals. If so, I’d imagine our crack Asst. DA would let us know about it. And yet….silence. Maybe he has no basis upon which to make any of these claims. So maybe when he suggests that this information is relevant to the case, he’s just farting around, as usual.

    [Are you sure you’re not croche? You miss the point here as spectacularly as he ever did — and that’s saying a lot. — Patterico]

    mikekoshi (f85090)

  4. So, what kind of background information is relevant. And when? How do journos today draw tht line, or lines, between accurate reporting, or erring political correctness, or erring on the side of racism — or simply not having the time to get all the information by deadline?

    Well, a couple of questions for you, jmaharry:

    1) Do *you* consider this relevant?

    2) If they don’t report it tomorrow, do they have the deadline excuse?

    Patterico (8ccd07)

  5. I have mixed feelings about the CHP. The other day I was thinking silly and decided to totally, conspicuously stop at a stop sign, pull forward to see beyond the bushes obstucting my view to see the obviously empty oncoming street traffic, then make the right turn. Sure enough, the CHP car across the street pulled clear across the wide street to follow me (something illegal for me to do). A block later he was still in my left side “blind spot”. I slowed to like 20mph in a 40mph zone, just to let him go by to not be dangerous. He refused to disengage. At that point I suppose I was suspicious. He finally gave up and made an illegal U-Turn to go the other way. What the fuck is that all about?

    My friend got pulled over for having “tinted windows” in a car with windows shipped from the factory. When CHP was told this, he changed his story to “oh, you didn’t stop at the stop sign”, and my friend got a ticket. WTF? The LA Times never reports about previous minor, potentially totally ridiculous, reasons why these guys may have been given a ticket.

    It goes without saying that all you inner-circle guys never get a ticket for anything other than for parking. No one wants to appease thugs who grow up in the inner city and live a life of crime, but come on. The one thing we can all agree we want is: ACCURACY. No? Well, no. We all want a cool humonguous pension.

    Wesson (c20d28)

  6. I got a ticket about 2 years ago. It was for not having chains as required at Sequoia National Park. Pretty expensive, too: about $200.

    Patterico (8ccd07)

  7. Sorry, I left a comment about 5 min. ago, and it’s been lost.

    #4, Patterico:
    1. These facts are extremely relevant in telling the story. If the guy was an illegal, that fits into the ‘meaningful’, no question. I cited the Desert Digest report right away. And I suggested they had info the LAT did not report.

    2. I think the illegality of this guy is news. The LAT should make a deal about it. Either on front page, or on front page of the California section.

    (Not to be callous about it but) If an illegal drives down an officer in any other state, that is major news. Headline stuff.

    Unless the lives the CHP officers in this state are considered expendable.

    jmaharry (74c3ec)

  8. Okay, good. We agree it’s news. Now let’s see if it’s news that gets reported.

    Patterico (8ccd07)

  9. Mr Harry wrote:

    A bit of perspective: Looking bact to local journalism from the ’60s and ’70s quickly shows the pernicious side of racial detailing of ‘detail’ if it’s not balanced and consistent. Back then, blacks caught committing crimes were invariably described as negro males, or black males; while, on the other hand, the “race” of whites (or Jews or Chinese or whatever) was rarely identified in newsprint. From the perspective of ‘06, the practice back then was embarrassingly racist.

    So, what kind of background information is relevant. And when? How do journos today draw tht line, or lines, between accurate reporting, or erring political correctness, or erring on the side of racism — or simply not having the time to get all the information by deadline?

    Perhaps you should watch the news from foul, fetid, fuming, foggy, filthy Philadelphia. Philly is about 45% white, 45% black and 10% mixed and “other.” It appears that WPVI-TV’s (the local ABC O & O station) policy is not to mention that a suspect is a “black male,” or “white male,” but only a male. If WPVI has a police photo or sketch, they show that, so the viewer can see for himself.

    Dana (3e4784)

  10. […] Yesterday a Barstow newspaper reported that a suspected drunk driver who killed a CHP officer had “a fake identification card, a Mexican identification card and other identification all with different names and different variations of names.” […]

    Patterico’s Pontifications » Shocker: Los Angeles Times Ignores Evidence that CHP Officer’s Killer Was Illegal (421107)

  11. Lefty LAT resists the identification of criminal illegals because if the public was made aware of the extent, and cost, of their crimes there would be increasing demands to enforce border security.

    Black Jack (d8da01)

  12. More on CHP Officer Bailey

    Members of Bailey’s family, which includes wife Teresa and four young children, were gripped in grief in the aftermath of the shock that the National Guardsman, who had returned in November from a 14-month tour in Iraq, was killed on Interstate 15 by a suspected drunken driver’s 1991 Honda Accord.

    “Shock, just a feeling of disbelief,’ said Aimee Bailey, 35, of her older brother’s death.

    “For 14 months we prayed for his safe return (from Iraq), then to come home and get killed by a drunk driver is just mind boggling,” said Bailey, who was en route to Southern California from her Charlottesville, Va. home Monday morning.

    Bailey’s brother-in-law, Mike Walker, said the family was struggling with the twin burdens of grief and funeral arrangements. He said they have not reconciled the sad irony of Bailey’s surviving harrowing service in Iraq, where he was part of a Blackhawk Helicopter repair squadron, and abrupt death on comparatively tame Southland freeways.

    “In Iraq, he was flying into war-zones to repair helicopters, under gunfire all the time,” Walker said. “The hardest thing is that he was killed by a drunk driver.”

    Domingo Esqueda (and we still are not sure if that’s his true name) will be arraigned this afternoon in Victorville. So far, three charges have been filed, Vehicular Manslaughter and DUI — PC191.5(a) VC23153 (a) & (b). His bail will be $1,000,000.

    Darleen (f20213)

  13. Oh! and the case I cited in the #1 comment here of the illegal alien that shot the CHP officer last November… his brother has already pled guilty to accessory after the fact (PC32) and will be sentenced in July (he remains in custody) and Jaime is still at pre-preliminary stage on attempted murder of a peace officer charges (due in court tomorrow). Jaime is in custody on $2 million bail.

    Darleen (f20213)

  14. CHP Assistant Chief Mike Maples said Garcia was an illegal Mexican immigrant whose Pontiac was to be impounded because he was an unlicensed driver. Maples said investigators had yet to establish whether Garcia had been told that the car would be impounded before he allegedly opened fire, “but Officer Pressley was filling out the paperwork” when the shooting occurred.

    Yeah, and then who gets arrested for drunk driving? None other than Assistant Chief Mike Maples.

    http://www.pe.com/localnews/inland/stories/PE_News_Local_H_chp22.35fa5a0.html

    On 31 May 2005, a Sacramento cop drove drunk and killed 13-year-old Michael Ramirez, hit and run.

    Tom Alciere (f107cb)

  15. how about when the CHP cause the death of a man of en exposure to the hot ground rocks check the , half naked man atacks police officer on baker blvd article on the desert dispatch. he was brutaly massacreed on a police brutality case what do you have to say about that

    mario (7d3c91)


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