Riverside Police Fatally Wound Motorist During Pursuit

A Riverside police officer shot and killed a man who repeatedly tried to ram his minivan into officers who had chased him Monday after a hit-and-run collision.

A motorcycle officer who had received a radio report about the collision at Tyler Street and Magnolia Avenue first approached the minivan at 4:17 p.m., police said.

When the suspect tried to strike the motorcycle with his vehicle, a backup unit was called to help pursue the minivan.

As the chase entered the Arlanza area of the city, the suspect drove his minivan into the left rear door of the police car.

The officer inside suffered a neck injury, police said.

As several other officers arrived on the scene, the suspect rammed them at least once more, then tried to make a U-turn back into the path of the pursing officers, police spokesman Felix Medina said.

Richard Martinez, 19, a driver who said he witnessed the incident on Philbin Avenue, said the suspect took a large drink from a 40-ounce beer bottle as he attempted the U-turn.

Martinez said he then saw a Riverside police officer fire five times into the cab of the minivan, fatally wounding the driver.

The minivan rolled forward, smashing into a church, Iglesia de Dios Pentecostal Mi. Rony Guevara, the church building’s owner, had been host to its first wedding there Sunday.

“I’ve lived around here for more than eight years, and never saw anything like that,” Guevara said.

The suspect was pronounced dead at a hospital.

The injured officer was hospitalized.