13-year old boy killed riding ebike in Menifee Monday, collateral damage in a police chase for a non-violent property crime - BikinginLA
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SoCal's terrible, horrible, no good, very bad few days continued in Menifee, where a 13-year boy was collateral damage in a police chase.

Multiple sources are reporting that police in Menifee responded to a report of a burglary in progress on the 27000 block of Hemingway Court around 4:54 pm Monday.

A car driven by a woman believed to be involved in the burglary was seen leaving the area, and fled when the cops attempted to pull her over.

The driver was headed west on Holland Road at a high rate of speed when she ran the red light at Holland and Evans Road, striking the boy, who was riding north on Evans Road.

The victim, identified as 13-year-old Menifee resident Cody Villatoro, died at the scene, despite the efforts of police and paramedics.

The driver continued to flee until her car became disabled, at which point police arrested the woman, 21-year old Temecula resident Melody Valdez, on suspicion of evading police and homicide, among other charges.

So let’s repeat. Villatoro was riding with the green light, and apparently did nothing wrong other than share the planet with a driver wanted by police for a nonviolent property crime. But now he’s dead, because of a driver’s bad decision to flee and the cops’ choice to continue the chase.##

  • disregardable@lemmy.zip
    0·
    12 days ago

    21-year old Temecula resident Melody Valdez

    That’s awful. Barely not a child herself and she has to live with that for the rest of her life.

    • FuckyourFeels@lemmy.worldBanned
      0·
      10 days ago

      I hope that stupid fucking bitch lives a horrible miserable life filled with dread and fear for what’s coming. I hope she mutilates herself and lives a disgusting life like the evil person she is. I hope everyday she lives in pain and misery and somebody tortures her for the rest of her disgusting fucking life. She doesn’t deserve peace but hell on this planet. BURN BITCH BURN!

  • foxymochakitten@slrpnk.net
    0·
    10 days ago

    I see some folks discussing the role cops had in this awful situation, whether chasing or not chasing could have prevented the death of the little boy. I’d like to draw attention to another idea, though - the idea that this could have been prevented at the root. Why was a 21-year-old trying to rob a house? If she’s struggling for money, then we need stronger supports so that people like her aren’t placed in a position of needing to commit a burglary to stay afloat. If she has some kind of mental struggle, then she needed mental health support, therapy, etc. If she did it just because she’s 21 and thought it’d be fun, why does she think that way? What need or lack was she trying to remedy by doing a crime?

    The whole system is corrupted through and through. Let’s consider how we can build new and better systems so that police aren’t needed in the first place.