Suspect's driving put families in danger, not cops

This letter is in response to Barbara Geach's letter to the Acorn where she expressed her dismay over Raymundo Garcia's death.

I too am very "disturbed." I am disturbed that we still have citizens in Simi Valley that don't have a clue.

Geach questions Garcia's slowspeed pursuit, resisting arrest and drug use and whether he deserved a "death sentence" for these actions. The answer is simple: of course not.

I live in the neighborhood that Garcia was racing his car around prior to the "slow-speed pursuit." My family, and all of my neighbors, heard the wild screeches of Garcia's vehicle.

He left acceleration skid marks all over our neighborhood. It was our rage over his total disregard for human life that caused us to call the local police to put a stop to his actions before he killed someone.

It is, however, very unfortunate Garcia chose to ignore the red lights and sirens of the police and not pull over. It is unfortunate that Garcia had drugs in his car that night. And it is unfortunate that he disobeyed orders from the police to exit his car in a peaceful manner when asked.

So to answer your question, yes, Ms. Geach, we are of the mindset that demands instantaneous compliance to authority- to the very people we ask to keep us safe. When they do the job we ask them to do, it is expected that we obey their red lights and sirens and pull to the curb and stop. When they order us to get out of our cars, we do it, because it is the right thing to do. If you simply obey the requests of the officers you are dealing with, all goes nice, calm and orderly.

Garcia died the other night because he forced the officers to escalate the amount of force necessary to overcome his resistance to their orders. He was not Tasered immediately.

He was Tasered after he became combative with arresting officers. We don't hire police officers so they can become the punching bags of any criminal that doesn't want to obey what they ask them to do.

And being a 47-year resident of Simi Valley, I can tell the difference between Abu Ghraib and my hometown. If you can't, Ms. Geach, maybe you should go to Abu Ghraib and witness how bad it is over there.
Dave Willard
Simi Valley