Highway drama: Frantic cell calls couldn't stop jealous cop
Mark Denman
-/- any anti-gun talking head
--
Mark Denman ~W.W.J.J.D.?~ <"what would judge judy do?">
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Patty
BY RON KITAGAWA, DALE RODEBAUGH AND LISA FERNANDEZ
San Jose (California) Mercury News
As a Gilroy woman and her ex-boyfriend were speeding south on Highway
101 in a deadly chase Monday night, both were in the middle of dramatic
cell-phone conversations with friends and family: Lisa Muñoz
frantically asking for help, and Phillip Garcia calmly ignoring pleas
to stop.
``She was scared and afraid, asking her mom what to do,'' said Muñoz's
aunt, Mercy Gomez. ``She wanted her mom to call 911.''
Muñoz, 23, was still talking to her mother as Garcia rammed her Toyota
Camry. The mother heard her daughter scream, then the line went dead.
When authorities arrived, they found Muñoz dead in her car with three
gunshot wounds to her head. Garcia, 29, an off-duty Newark police
officer, was lying on the pavement, dead from a self-inflicted gunshot.
Nearby lay his .40-caliber Sig Sauer handgun.
Muñoz's family says the fatal encounter began to unfold around 5:30
p.m. in the parking lot at Kaiser-Permanente's Santa Teresa Community
Hospital in South San Jose, where Muñoz worked. Relatives said Muñoz
and Garcia, who had split up four months earlier, spent more than three
hours talking there.
On her way home, Muñoz called her mother as Garcia followed her.
A family friend, who was with Muñoz's mother and also knew Garcia, used
her cell phone and called 911, a relative said. The friend then
contacted Garcia in his car on his cell phone.
The friend told Gomez that Garcia was ``nice, calm and quiet''
throughout the incident. ``Let Lisa come home,'' she told Garcia.
``She's scared.''
Muñoz's family members called the Mercury News on Tuesday night saying
they were upset with the portrayals of Garcia in the media as ``a great
guy.'' And, in fact, much of the reaction on Tuesday portrayed Garcia
in that light.
According to Santa Clara County sheriff's spokesman Sgt. John Hirokawa,
the drama became more dangerous around 9:30 p.m. about 10 miles north
of Cochrane Road when Garcia, who had been dating Muñoz for some five
years, tried to run her off the highway.
According to witnesses, the pursuit ended just north of Cochrane Road,
where Garcia's red 1994 4Runner forced Muñoz's brown 1996 Camry off the
highway then broadsided it when she attempted to re-enter traffic
lanes, Hirokawa said.
After the vehicles collided, Garcia got out, walked over to the Camry
and shot Muñoz as she sat in her car, Hirokawa said. Garcia then turned
the gun on himself, he said.
Garcia was found lying on the highway, the weapon nearby. The .40-
caliber Sig Sauer was Garcia's personal weapon, Pugh said. He didn't
know if the officer carried the gun on duty.
Muñoz and Garcia had been dating for seven years, according to her
cousin, Angela Aistrup, 25, of Elk Grove. But they broke up four months
ago, when Muñoz moved out of Garcia's Fremont apartment and back home
to her mother's house in Gilroy. At the time, Aistrup said, Muñoz felt
Garcia would not ever commit to marrying her, so she ended their
relationship. ``I can't do this anymore,'' Muñoz told her cousin.
Muñoz tried to begin her new life, Aistrup said, but Garcia became
jealous when she started dating again.
The relationship entered a disturbing new phase in the last three
months, said Muñoz's brother, Benjamin. Garcia began stalking his
sister, he said.
``They were good friends and she trusted him,'' Muñoz said. But ``he
just wouldn't leave her alone.''
Last week, family members say, Muñoz told Garcia she no longer wanted
to see him. ``They could still talk,'' Aistrup said, ``but she couldn't
see him because of the stress.''
``He always knew where she was,'' said Muñoz's aunt, Mercy Gomez,
``waiting for her . . . tracking her down.''
Gomez said her niece didn't feel she could go to the police, ``because
Phil was a police officer, she had to be careful who she told.''
Before Monday's tragedy, both Garcia and Muñoz were known as hard-
working people and well-liked. Colleagues were shocked at the news.
``She was always smiling,'' said Frankie Enos, Muñoz's supervisor and
the manager of the optical services department at Santa Teresa
Community Hospital in South San Jose, where she had worked as a
receptionist and cashier for nearly two years.
``Everyone was devastated, devastated -- shocked,'' said Enos. ``It's a
small department with 16 employees -- We're pretty close.''
Garcia's co-workers in Newark and those who knew him when he worked as
a police officer in King City were equally surprised.
They remember Garcia as an award-winning officer who liked sports and
helping with at-risk youth.
``He was popular and highly respected,'' said Newark Police Chief John
Robertson.
Despite Garcia's popularity, Robertson said the department of 58 sworn
officers will not be flying a flag at half staff or holding a special
police funeral for Garcia.
``That is usually reserved for when an officer dies honorably in the
line of duty,'' Robertson said. ``And obviously this is not the case.''
Garcia graduated from Gilroy High School in 1988. Muñoz graduated
there, too, in January 1994.
Following graduation, Muñoz worked at a clothing store in the Gilroy
Outlets and soon became a manager. Later, she began taking general
education classes at Gavilan College and almost two years ago landed
the job at Kaiser.
One neighbor also remembered her as a jogger.
``I didn't see her often after she graduated. The last time was about
four months ago. But I remember her as a friendly, wonderful, gorgeous
girl,'' Jessie Betancourt said.
In high school, Muñoz played junior varsity basketball, junior varsity
and varsity softball and participated in the annual junior/senior girls
flag football competition known as the Powder Puff. She also was a
member of the student council.
Muñoz was reflective, too.
In a yearbook quote, she said: ``If I could change something throughout
my high school years, I would have gotten more academically involved.''
Garcia, who lived in Fremont, had worked as a patrol officer in Newark
since December 1998. He began his career at the King City Police
Department in 1996 and worked there until he got the job in Newark.
In May, Garcia and a team of five Newark police officers won a ``gold
award'' for taking a suicidal, mentally disturbed man safely into
custody. Garcia's current beat in Newark was the 6 p.m. to 6:30 a.m.
shift. He was off duty Monday night and not expected back to work until
Thursday.
Since coming to Newark, Garcia had been particularly interested in
obtaining a grant to start up a Police Athletic League. He also wanted
to reach out to at-risk kids whom Garcia called ``fence sitters,''
Robertson said.
The slaying and suicide shocked former co-workers in King City who knew
Garcia as a good man in a good relationship.
``I'm in disbelief,'' said King City officer Brennan Lux, 25, who hung
out with Garcia at work and attended a few barbecues with him. He said
he remembers Garcia as a very athletic man who loved working out and
mountain biking.
``Phil was a great guy,'' Lux said. ``Very energetic.''
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michae...@yahoo.com
frizzielizzie
> I know what my brother did was wrong to Lisa but I still miss the both of them.love your younger brother Michael E.
