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Sean Staymates and Kevin Pedersen fired more than 70 times on 50-year-old Eliuth Penaloza Nava, who was reportedly told that he was armed and had acted erratically, authorities said.
"Our legal opinion is that there is not enough evidence to prove beyond reasonable doubt that the Staymates and Pedersen officers were convicted of a criminal offense when they were not guilty. they shot Nava on July 21, 2018, "said the Orange County District Attorney's Office in a letter to Anaheim Police Chief, Jorge Cisneros, providing details about the investigation.
"Pedersen officers and roommates were justified in believing that Nava was a significant threat of death or serious physical injury to both officers and others," the letter said. Although they were not charged, the prosecutor's letter described their conduct as "alarming and irresponsible".
Neither Pedersen nor Staymates could be reached on Wednesday.
What happened?
On the morning of his death, one of the Nava brothers called the police to tell him that Nava was under the influence of an unknown and "hallucinating" drug, according to the letter, which contains a detailed report of the incident.
The brother also told police that Nava was armed with a pistol and a knife in a truck parked in front of his parents' home, prosecutors said.
Images of the Dash Camera and Body published by the Orange County Attorney's Office showed Pedersen and Staymates an answer to a call in a residential area of Anaheim.
When the police arrived at the scene, Staymates saw Nava sit down and start the truck. The police came out of their vehicle, unsheathed their weapons and asked Nava to stop the truck several times, according to the report.
Nava did not comply with the officers and left. According to the report, Pedersen reportedly saw Nava lean toward the floor immediately after the chase. He saw Nava holding what appeared to be a semi-automatic black handgun pointed at the roof of the truck. Nava then pointed the weapon out the window and directed it directly to the agents, according to the report.
The gun was actually a CO2 air pistol, according to the report.
"It was black in color and looked a lot like an authentic 9mm Luger gun.It had no orange tip on the gun and no other mark made it easy to distinguish this airgun from one." real gun, "says the report.
Officers say that they fear that "man is shooting and killing them"
According to the report, a few seconds later, Pedersen allegedly fired about seven shots through the front windshield of the patrol unit near the Nava truck.
"Officers Pedersen and Staymates were concerned that Nava would shoot them and kill them," the report said.
In the video, the two officers are shooting through the windshield of their vehicle.
"We strongly advise against pulling through a windshield but our policy does not stipulate that you can not, there could be incidents or actions at times that would be allowed," Cisneros said at the conference. Wednesday press.
Pedersen, who was driving, fired his handgun 64 times, according to the report. The companions, who were on the passenger side, fired 12 shots, the report said.
According to the results of the autopsy, Nava received at least nine gunshot wounds. Amphetamines and methamphetamines have been found in his blood.
Pedersen, who was a probation officer, was fired by the Anaheim Police Department. The roommates will face the discipline of the department, said Cisneros.
CNN's Darran Simon and Cheri Mossburg contributed to this report.
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