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.
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