See Update No. 3 on page 2 with the identities of the dead pedestrian and suspect and the man being held for murder. Update No. 2 on the next page is on the capture and an eyewitness account of the pedestrian being killed. Update No. 1 deals with the police shooting.
ORIGINAL POST, MAY 30, 12:33 P.M.: Someone who led police on a chase through Santa Ana struck and killed a pedestrian at MacArthur Boulevard and Flower Street today, according to police.
The driver was shot during the chase by officers.
More details to come …
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UPDATE NO. 1, MAY 30, 12:51 P.M.: The driver shot by officers during a car chase kept driving and then struck and killed a pedestrian, according to Santa Ana police.
The 20-minute chase began in the 1000 block of West Central Avenue and ended about 12:10 p.m. at MacArthur Boulevard and Flower Street.
That's where the pedestrian was struck and later died at the scene, according to Santa Ana Police Cpl. Anthony Bertagna, the department spokesman.
A television news report claims others were in the car with the suspect who was shot.
UPDATE NO. 2, MAY 30, 4:08 P.M.: Details of the Santa Ana car chase that included a suspect being shot and a pedestrian being killed have changed, and even department spokesman Cpl. Anthony Bertagna notes aspects of the unfolding drama remain unclear.
The story now goes that police had a confrontation with a group of people in two vehicles around 11:45 a.m. and that four combatants got into a white Dodge Charger in the 1000 block of Central Avenue, leading to a short chase.
One suspect got out of the car at Central and Rosewood Circle where, thinking he was armed, officers shot and hit him. He was taken to a hospital in critical condition.
The other three suspects drove off in the Charger, striking another vehicle at Warner Avenue and Parton Street before continuing to Flower Street, heading south and striking a pedestrian in the crosswalk at Macarthur, where he was killed, according to Bertagna.
A witness tells the Weekly he saw it differently. Bill Bradfield says he was in the passenger seat of a vehicle that was “10 seconds from entering the Flower and Macarthur intersection after the light turned green.”
He adds: “I witnessed a thin white man with a beard enter the crosswalk, and as the first car entered the intersection, it was struck by the bandits' car and pushed into the pedestrian who was knocked back almost 20 feet onto the sidewalk, where he remained motionless.”
Some neighbors believe the deceased was a homeless man often seen in the area.
One of the three male suspects who'd been in the Charger was bitten by a police dog, another was subdued with a Taser and the third simply surrendered, Bertagna said.
No identities have been released.
Bradfield said he feels “so much sorrow for that innocent pedestrian who never saw it coming. You never know when it's your turn to go, thank God it wasn't mine.”
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UPDATE NO. 3, MAY 31, 2:52 P.M.: Police have released some of the identities of the people involved in Thursday's bizarre fatal police shooting/car chase/pedestrian death case.
The pedestrian who was struck and killed was identified as Andrew Scott Reisse, 33, of Santa Ana.
The driver who is being held on suspicion of murder is Victor Sanchez, 21, of Santa Ana, according to police, who add he was the suspect behind the wheel of the Dodge Charger who surrendered to police.
Sanchez was hospitalized under guard, Santa Ana Police Cpl. Anthony Bertagna tells City News Service.
One passenger who'd been in Sanchez's car was bitten by a police dog and the other was Tasered before they were taken into custody, police said. Neither has been identified, but they were arrested on suspicion of probation violations and outstanding warrants, Bertagna said.
The man shot by officers before the chase was Gerardo Diego Ayala, according to police, who add the Santa Ana 26-year-old later died at the hospital where he'd been taken in critical condition.
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