05/12/2009

Associated Press

A man killed in a police shooting had two recent run-ins with the law, but despite the troubles his parents said he was a 'good kid.' (who the hell they think they are fooling)

Nathaniel Sanders II, 18, was killed and 21-year-old Sir Lawrence Smith was injured Monday in the shooting that sparked a standoff between an agitated crowd and officers in riot gear, police said.

According to court records, Sanders was serving a form of probation — related to a 2008 arrest for possession of 35 grams of crack cocaine when he was arrested last week in connection with a robbery at a downtown ATM, the Austin American-Statesman reported. The victim accused Sanders of hitting him and taking cash and his wallet, according to the arrest warrant. Officers found Sanders several blocks away based on a description from the victim, picking a credit card out of a wallet before tossing it into a trash can, the affidavit said. (So...a drug dealer or courier, and a felon....just your common everyday thugg trying to make a buck...but a "good boy"...rofl...yeah right)

He was charged with robbery by assault, a second-degree felony punishable by up to 20 years in prison. He posted $8,000 bail on Friday, court records show, and was released from the Travis County Jail.

Sanders received six years of deferred adjudication, a form of probation, on the drug charge, a third-degree felony punishable by two to 10 years in prison.

Speaking from their South Austin home Monday, Nathaniel and Yulonda Sanders shared their grief and anger.

He was "a good kid — not a throw-away child," said Yulonda Sanders. Her cheeks were wet with tears.

"Definitely not worthy of APD's negligence of properly doing their job," said Nathaniel Sanders of what he called a "hideous and devastating night."

Events leading up to the shooting started with police responding to an area where there had been complaints of gunfire during the weekend. Sanders was one of three men in a car officers thought might be connected with gunfire reports.

The driver of the car was awake and immediately detained, Austin Police Chief Art Acevedo said.

Two other men were asleep, and one "made a movement toward a weapon" when an officer tried to wake him up, Acevedo said. The other man awoke and was shot as he ran toward the officer, Acevedo said.

Sanders was the first man who was shot and died at the scene in east Austin, his father told the newspaper. The other man, Smith, was in stable condition at an Austin hospital, said Bobby Taylor, a lawyer for Smith's family.

A memorandum from the city identified Leonardo Quintana, who has been on the Austin police force for 8 1/2 years, as the officer who opened fire, the Austin American-Statesman reported.

Police said the shooting was recorded by video camera in only one of the three police cruisers at the scene. It was not on in Quintana's vehicle. "But I want to emphasize we did have video going in one other car," Acevedo said.

He did not know whether the camera in the third car was recording.

The father of the man killed said Acevedo told him the shooting was not videotaped.

"My reaction was, definitely not good and definitely not positive about the Austin Police Department," Nathaniel Sanders, 42, told the newspaper. "Like I explained to the chief, it is just hard that in these situations, the camera not be working. We can't get proper disclosure by it not working."

It's the third recent police shooting in which no dash cam video was provided, despite a department policy requiring officers to videotape all stops, the newspaper reported.

Nelson Linder, president of the Austin chapter of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, said his organization would conduct an investigation into the video and the shooting.

"If in fact it wasn't turned on intentionally, that is a policy violation," Linder told The Associated Press Monday night.

Acevedo said Quintana will be placed on standard administrative leave.

The newspaper reported that Quintana was suspended for 15 days in August 2006 after a fight with his girlfriend. He was a finalist for employee of the year in 2008 and has received a number of commendations, including the superior service citation.

"We don't target people," Acevedo said. "We target behavior and we take action based on that fact."

A crowd of about 100 people gathered after the shooting, and police said rocks and bottles were thrown at officers and their patrol cars. Eight officers had minor injuries and eight patrol cars were damaged, police said.

As tensions eased, people could still be seen chanting and yelling at police.

Despite his son's troubles, Sanders' father said he and his wife "spent a lot of time teaching, showing him the right way." The last thing his mother remembers was him saying that he loved her and him giving her a hug. (apparently the felon drug dealer didn't listen well, or listened too well)

"He was still our baby," she said.

All I can say is what a shame an 18 year old young man couldn't behave, and had to die as a result of his poor decisions, and another moron is in jail because he was stupid, and threatened to kill cops.......nice choices they made .....riff