POLICE FILES - June 28, 2001

Oak View residents aired concerns over city police and remorse over

the shooting death of 18-year-old Antonio Saldivar to county officials

last week during a meeting aimed at overcoming distress brought on by his

death.

About 70 residents from the primarily Latino neighborhood attended the

three-hour meeting Friday at the Oak View Community Center and vented

feelings of mistrust and frustration toward the Huntington Beach Police

Department.

The Orange County Human Relations Commission arranged a gathering to

soothe angst over the May 5 shooting of Saldivar, a neighborhood

resident, by police. This was the second such meeting since his death.

Police representation was absent at the meeting, at the request of

organizers, who said the move was intended to encourage and comfort

community speakers.

Saldivar was shot in the early morning hours of May 5, after allegedly

pointing a toy rifle at Officer Mark Wersching, 26, a five-year veteran

of the department.

Wersching was in the middle of a foot pursuit of a man seen peering

into parked cars, initially said to be Saldivar, who fled after being

confronted by officers, police said.

Orange County sheriffs later revealed that it was 21-year-old Brigido

Cara Mendez whom police were chasing, not Saldivar.