Traffic Stop at CA Gas Station Erupts into Gunfire; Subject Killed

[Ken [NY]]

Traffic Stop at CA Gas Station Erupts into Gunfire; Subject Killed

Danville, California - 8/29/2001

A traffic stop at a gas station erupted in gunfire late Monday as
police shot and killed a San Ramon man who they say pointed a gun at
an officer.

Two Danville officers fired between 15 and 20 shots at Stephen Louis
Vidovich III, 20, said Police Chief Greg Gilbert. Vidovich was
pronounced dead at the scene.

"He had the gun (in his right hand) and was pointing it across his
chest at the officer" to the left of the car, Gilbert said. "We are
still trying to piece together why this individual did what he did."

It was Danville's first officer-involved shooting. It was the ninth
fatal shooting since 1987 involving deputies from the Contra Costa
County Sheriff's Office, which provides police service for this
affluent suburb of 40,000.

Investigators said the incident began at 11:40 p.m. when two officers
on patrol saw a 1986 Chevrolet Camaro driving south on San Ramon
Valley Boulevard. The Camaro pulled into the left-turn lane at the
Sycamore Valley Road intersection.

Noting the car's expired registration tags, the officers pulled
Vidovich over. When the patrol car caught up, he had turned into the
gas station and was making a pay phone call.

Vidovich hung up, put his hands in his pockets and started walking
back to his car when police approached, Gilbert said. He took his
hands out of his pockets but did not stop as ordered.

Vidovich got in the car and started it as officers approached, with
one officer on either side of the Camaro. It was then that police
noticed the gun.

Gilbert said police fired many shots because they were running
backwards and looking for cover while shooting.

Gas station employee Olga Montiel was cleaning the restroom when she
heard the shots.

"I locked the door," she said. "I was scared."

A neighbor also heard shots.

"At first we thought it was some kids playing with firecrackers, but
then I said, 'No, it's someone shooting,'" said Roy Lewis, 45, who
lives nearby. He went to the station and saw about 10 police cars and
evidence markers strewn in the area. "It was like I've never seen
before in Danville."

Police said they do not know why Vidovich would draw on officers. The
loaded .40-caliber semiautomatic weapon he carried had been reported
stolen in Livermore between 18 months and two years ago, a detective
said. Vidovich was on probation for a prior offense.

Vidovich was not prone to violence, a family member said Tuesday.

"It shocked me. My first inclination is that it just doesn't sound
right," said cousin Kathryn Vidovich of Los Altos. "His family is
really nice ... really wholesome."

Police said they think Vidovich had been with friends in Danville
prior to the shooting.

"We've traced his whereabouts up to about 11 o'clock, when the last
person saw him," said Sgt. Jeff Wells of the sheriff's homicide unit.
"Nobody in the statements said he seemed like he was going to do
something crazy or especially bizarre."

A pair of flower bouquets and a goodbye card sat atop what appeared to
be congealed blood at the gas station Tuesday afternoon as friends
stopped by to pay respects.

"I don't know where to begin. He was a good person," said Robert
DeCosta, 21, a friend of Vidovich since middle school. "He cared a lot
... and he had good intentions."

The sheriff's office did not release further information about the gun
or details of the case, such as how many bullets struck Vidovich or
whether the suspect fired his weapon.

The sheriff's office also withheld the names of the officers involved.
Gilbert said they were 10- and seven-year veterans of the sheriff's
office. The officers were placed on paid leave pending the outcome of
standard investigations by the sheriff's office and the district
attorney.

San Ramon police had arrested Vidovich three times since 1999. He was
sentenced in November 2000 to three years' probation, 84 days in jail
and was fined for battery and drunken driving convictions stemming
from two of those incidents. Vidovich also had a July 1999 conviction
for having an open container of alcohol in a car.

Vidovich was a witness to a violent murder in 1999. He witnessed the
Dec. 12, 1999, stabbing death of his friend Marc Lee Chadwick, over
a$40 gambling debt at a San Ramon home. Vidovich went with Chadwick to
collect the debt; he also testified during the suspect's murder trial.

Vidovich attended California High School during the mid-1990s before
moving on to Del Amigo, a continuation high school, and Venture
Independent Study School, a San Ramon Valley schools spokesman said.

CONTRA COSTA(CALIFORNIA)TIMES

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Ken [NY]
--
Chairperson,
Department of Redundancy Department
____________________________________

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To be is to do - Sartre
Do be do be do - Sinatra

Q: What do you call a Midget Psychic who just committed a crime?
A: A small medium at large.

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> Dec. 12, 1998, stabbing death of his friend Marc Lee Chadwick, over