Riverside Police Officer Shot and Killed

POLICE: Big-rig driver fatally shoots cop
01:28 PM PST on Monday, November 8, 2010

By RICHARD BROOKS
The Press-Enterprise

A big-rig trucker escaped after fatally shooting a Riverside police officer who had stopped him last night for investigation of hit and run driving, the police chief says.

Officer Ryan Bonaminio was shot at 9:52 p.m. Sunday near Market Street and Fairmount Park. Bonaminio made the stop in connection with a reported hit and run accident near Hwy. 60 and Market Street, Chief Sergio Diaz said about 5:30 a.m.

The officer spotted the truck as it was traveling southbound on Market Street from Hwy. 60 and it stopped at Fairmount Park the chief said. The trucker ran into the park. The officer ran after him.

Backup officers found Bonaminio lying on the ground suffering from a gunshot wound. He was taken to Riverside Community Hospital where he died.

At least 10 big rigs are parked in idle just north of Hwy 60 where a trucker says they're stuck because a local distribution center is shut down, apparently because of the shooting.

"We just got stuck," said a Jim Palmer Trucking driver who declined to give his name.

Drivers were told that they couldn't go to their destination, which he identified as the WalMart Distribution Center about a mile away from where they were parked.

"Some nut is running around with a gun," he said, paraphrasing the brief explanation he said police had given the drivers.

Officers are manning road blocks along Market Street from Hwy 60 south to the Park and north of Hwy 60 to Agua Mansa Road as the dragnet continues.

"They're still looking around the area," said a CHP officer at one road block who estimated the roads would remain closed for hours, "That person is armed and dangerous, he has already killed an officer."

No suspect has been identified the chief said. Anyone with information may call Detectives Ron San Filippo at 951 353-7105 or Greg Rowe at 951 353-7136.

word on this is that the truck was stolen

waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaabbbssssss

W.Devil wrote:waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaabbbssssss

cop didn't get shot then? he got triple body flopped/dome dropped?

Cop died from blunt force trauma. he got hit so hard he was doing 360 degree backflips ten feet in the air. He was foamin at the mouf and everythang. Green shit leakin out.

they arrested some dude for this..The guy that alledgedly merked this cop was a parolee from Rubidoux.

W.Devil wrote:they arrested some dude for this..The guy that alledgedly merked this cop was a parolee from Rubidoux.

ya it was all over the news, they said it was a black guy form rubidoux and apparently he shot the cop with his own gun

OFFICER SLAIN: 'Very possible' killed with his own gun
By
PE News
on November 9, 2010 5:23 PM
One of the detectives investigating the slaying of a Riverside police officer said today it was "very possible" he was killed with his own gun, which is missing.

The disclosure came during a crowded afternoon news conference to update media on the investigation into the Sunday night slaying of Riverside Police Officer Ryan P. Bonaminio.

The 27-year-old officer died in a struggle with a hit-run vehicle accident suspect he was chasing on foot in Riverside's Fairmount Park.

During the news conference held outside in front of the Riverside Police Department, Police Chief Sergio Diaz announced rewards for the arrest and conviction of Bonaminio's killer. The amount grew to $490,000 later in the day.

The slain officer's father, Joseph, made an emotional plea for his son's kilelr to surrender during the news conference, attended by several Riverside County and city law enforcement and elected officials.

"I would like this criminal to just come forward, just bring yourself in," the father said.

"I have some anger. I don't feel rage ... let's put an end to this," Joseph Bonaminio said.

Police also released to the media a video taken from the dashboard camera of Bonaminio's patrol car showing the suspect getting in and out of the cab of the stolen semi-truck that Bonaminio had stopped on a report it was involved in a hit-run accident.

On Monday, a grainy image of the man had been released. Diaz said he hoped the video would reveal more about the man, who he said had a "distinct" way of carrying himself.

Diaz said detectives did not yet get a "home run" in identifying the man through fingerprints lifted from the stolen tractor-trailer truck that he drove away from Fairmount Park after Bonaminio was shot and returned it to the rental yard from which it was taken.

Detective Ron Sanfilippo said police had talked to witnesses who saw "a majority of the incident" on Sunday night in Fairmount Park.

With Bonaminio's gun missing, Sanfilippo said it is "very possible" he was shot with his own weapon. "We are looking into that, but we don't know for sure."

Diaz said he was confident the slaying would be solved but also said "We still don't know who we are dealing with" in terms of identifying the suspect.

Police also announced plans for Bonaminio's funeral, set for 10 a.m. Tuesday at The Grove Community Church, 19900 Grove Community Drive in Riverside.

Burial will follow at Riverside National Cemetery. Bonaminio served two tours of duty in Iraq as a military policemen with the Army.

Suspect in officer's death: 'Jail is my home'
By
PE News
on November 10, 2010 11:15 AM

On May 19, 2007, a Riverside County sheriff's deputy responding to a report of a domestic disturbance on Arvonna Drive in Moreno Valley encountered a disheveled and bloodied Earl Green and two cars that had been vandalized, according to a court transcript.

Green's hands were bloody, he told Deputy Daniel Engels, because he had punched his car and that of his girlfriend, Tyronica Johnson. They were having troubles and he was upset, Green told the deputy.

"I'm tired. I want to go home," Green told Engels.

Asked Engels: "Well, Mr. Green, aren't you at home?"

"No," Green answered. "Jail is my home."

Green was subsequently convicted of felony vandalism. On July 12, 2007, he was sentenced to three years in prison. He served less than 20 months.

Police link arrest to Riverside officer's slaying
08:44 AM PST on Wednesday, November 10, 2010

By STEVEN BARRIE, ALICIA ROBINSON and RICHARD K. DE ATLEY
The Press-Enterprise

Riverside police have made an arrest in Sunday's slaying of a Riverside police officer, but Police Chief Sergio Diaz cautioned that more investigation was needed.

A man was arrested about 8:30 p.m. Tuesday at the Target store on Arlington Avenue in Riverside. He is a possible suspect in the slaying of Officer Ryan Bonaminio, who was shot Sunday night after a traffic stop and brief foot chase in the city's Fairmount Park, police said.

"We like this guy, but there's still a lot of work to do," Diaz said, speaking in the Target parking lot shortly after the arrest that involved at least a dozen officers.

Angel Ruiz, 25, of Riverside, witnessed the arrest from the Yum Yum Donuts shop in the same strip mall as the Target store, in the 3300 block of Arlington.

He said about 8:20 p.m., three police cars pulled into the parking lot. Officers got out and started loading weapons. Some of them had on vests or jackets indicating they were police, and some said FBI, he said.

The officers got a man onto the ground, shouting that they were armed and were going to disarm him.

A woman wearing a red shirt and khakis who was with the man was taken aside, searched and put into a police vehicle. A few minutes later, the male suspect was also put in a squad car and driven off.

The man had been in an older-model Chevrolet flatbed truck, which was carted away.

The man detained was African American and about 6 feet tall, Ruiz said.

On Sunday night, Bonaminio was shot and killed near the entrance of Fairmount Park while running after a man who had been fleeing a hit-and-run accident in a stolen truck.

The shooter was described as a black male in his mid-30s to mid-40s, 6-foot-1 to 6-foot-2 with a slender build and possible facial hair.

The arrest came hours after an emotional news conference where police offered a reward and revealed that Bonaminio may have been ambushed and shot with his own gun.

Responding to a reported hit-and-run, Bonaminio, 27, pulled over a semitruck cab in front of Fairmount Park and pursued the driver, who fled on foot. The driver may have run ahead, hidden and waited for Bonaminio before struggling with him and taking his gun, police said Tuesday. The gun has not been found.

Witnesses who work at a church on Ridge Road, which overlooks the park, "saw a majority of the incident," Riverside Police Detective Ron Sanfilippo said.

Bonaminio's father, Joseph, was subdued but visibly shaken as he stood before a bank of TV cameras Tuesday and urged the killer to surrender.

"I would like this criminal to just come forward -- just bring yourself in," Joseph Bonaminio said.

Police recovered fingerprints from the stolen truck and the car from the hit-and-run incident, which the driver touched as he briefly spoke to the people inside. So far they have no leads on the suspect's identity, but he likely had experience driving a big rig.

Federal, state and local agencies have pledged a reward of at least $490,000 for information leading to the arrest and conviction of Bonaminio's killer. Contributions were made by the city, Riverside County, the FBI, the Morongo and San Manuel tribes, and several other agencies and groups.

Police on Tuesday released a video clip from Bonaminio's patrol-car dash camera that shows the suspect returning to the truck after shooting the officer.

Sanfilippo said police released a portion of the video because it shows the suspect's movements.

"His walking is very distinctive, and that may help us in identifying him," the detective said.

Diaz said the reward is "a lot of money to forgo for protecting a criminal like this."

'let justice do job'

Flanked by his wife, Geraldine; daughter, Nicole, and her boyfriend, John Enriquez, Joseph Bonaminio expressed his frustration with the irony of his son surviving two tours with the Army military police in Iraq, only to be gunned down in a park in his hometown.

"I had a son who spent two tours in Iraq. ... And he gave his life on our soil. I want to know why and I want to know where the logic of that is."

He spoke in front of the peace officers memorial in downtown Riverside.

"I'm not a vicious person. In my mind, there's two forms of punishment for you," Joseph Bonaminio said. "One is the most inhumane way you could treat a person ... and the other way is the way my son would do it. My son would bring you in. He would have you incarcerated and let justice do its job."

About a dozen uniformed officers watched Joseph Bonaminio speak, along with Riverside City Manager Brad Hudson, Mayor Ron Loveridge, City Council members, Riverside County Sheriff Stan Sniff and supervisors John Tavaglione and Jeff Stone. Seven TV news vans were parked along Orange Street, which police had shut off to accommodate the huge crowd of media and participants.

Joseph Bonaminio said being a police officer was the only thing his son ever wanted to do and he likely would have stayed with the department until retirement. He was a four-year veteran of the department when he died.

The father said he has avoided all news coverage of the incident and refuses to look at a photo of the suspect.

While Joseph Bonaminio said he never would have tried to talk his son out of a police career, he choked up as he added, "In the back of your mind you know that something like this is inevitable."

GUN STILL MISSING

Tuesday, police described more of what they believe happened Sunday night. At 9:40 p.m., the suspect stole a tractor cab, with no trailers attached, from a Penske truck rental lot just off Market Street north of Riverside.

The lot is surrounded by a chain-link fence topped with three rows of barbed wire. Penske officials said they cannot comment on the theft because of the ongoing investigation. Police said there is surveillance video from the lot, but it is not useful in identifying the suspect.

The suspect was driving on Highway 60 between Market and Main streets when he hit another car. He got out of the truck and touched the car when he briefly stopped to talk to its driver. The incident was reported to police, and Officer Bonaminio, who was on patrol alone, responded to a dispatcher and began following the suspect on Market Street.

When Bonaminio turned on his lights and siren, the man pulled over just south of the entrance to Fairmount Park, got out of the truck and ran. Bonaminio followed.

The suspect likely hid, attacked the officer, stole his gun and shot him. The dash camera video shows the man got back in the truck and drove off. Police recovered the truck at the lot where it was stolen, but they don't know why the suspect returned it there.

Police said they don't know how the suspect got away from the Penske lot, but Sanfilippo said it's possible an accomplice picked him up.

Backup officers arrived to find Bonaminio on the ground. Based on a review of officers' dash camera video of the event, they may have arrived at the park a minute to a minute and a half after the suspect left, Diaz said.

Bonaminio was taken to Riverside Community Hospital, where he was pronounced dead at 10:22 p.m.

Police and volunteers with metal detectors searched the park for Bonaminio's gun, but it has not been recovered.

'OUR FALLEN BROTHER'

By Tuesday morning, a makeshift memorial had sprung up at Fairmount Park near where Bonaminio was shot. It included more than 30 votive candles, American flags, and a light blue poster with permanent marker pens available for messages.

The poster had Bonaminio's portrait and the nickname "Bon" inscribed large.

People were pausing to offer a thought, a prayer, or add their own candles and messages to the memorial.

"A brave young man that God called too early," read one note; "To our fallen brother, the one who took me on my 1st ride along and kept me safe...we love you," read another.

Mail carrier Gilbert Salcedo, 46, of Perris, pulled up in his Postal Service van and took a few minutes' break at the memorial. He made the sign of the cross and delivered a silent prayer.

"It's a shame that our soldiers fight for our country and they come back and you see something like this," Salcedo said. The mail carrier said he was an Army veteran like Bonaminio.

"This is one of the guys who take care of us," he said as the candles flickered in the bright morning sunshine. "We work in Riverside, in the downtown area, and he takes care of me. ...God bless him."

Sgt. 1st Class John Martin and Sgt. Nicholas Weilbacher of the Army National Guard stopped by the memorial after their morning run around the park, which includes a Guard armory.

They didn't know Bonaminio, Martin said, but, "we're all brothers protecting the country one way or another."

He added, "This is our neighborhood," because they work at the armory.

A few people also had placed flowers at the peace officers memorial in front of the downtown Riverside police headquarters where Tuesday's news conference was held.

An emotional Supervisor Tavaglione said his family and Bonaminio's family have been friends for years. His voice breaking, he said his son, also a Riverside police officer, was Bonaminio's beat partner and a close friend.

"There's nothing like having to call your son and let him know of the death of one of his colleagues," Tavaglione said. "There's nothing worse."

Detectives have unanswered questions about the man they are seeking, Diaz said, but "I have every confidence this case will be solved."

Funeral services are scheduled at 10 a.m. Tuesday at the Grove Community Church, 19900 Grove Community Drive, Riverside, followed by a procession to Riverside National Cemetery for the burial.

Reach Alicia Robinson at 951-368-9461 or arobinson@PE.com

Reach Richard K. De Atley at 951-368-9573 or rdeatley@PE.com

TO ASSIST FAMILY

Donations to help the Bonaminios: RPOA's Officer and Family Assistance Fund, 1965 Chicago Ave., Suite B; Riverside CA 92507 or www.rpoa.org

THE REWARD

Officials announced a reward of at least $490,000 for information that leads to the arrest of Officer Ryan Bonaminio's killer. Police have not said that the man now in custody is the one in the photo taken by Bonaminio's dashboard camera.

The state of California, Riverside City Council, Riverside County supervisors and district attorney's office: $100,000 each

Riverside Police Officers Association and the U.S. Marshals Service: $25,000 each

FBI: $20,000

Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms: $10,000

Morongo Band of Mission Indians: $10,000 to reward and $10,000 to assist Bonaminio's family

San Manuel Band of Mission Indians: undetermined amount

Information about the crime is at www.riversideca.gov/rpd, where tips can be submitted online. Anyone with information can also call Detective Ron Sanfilippo at 951-353-7105 or Detective Greg Rowe at 951-353-7130.

No murder charge filed in police officer slaying
02:25 PM PST on Friday, November 12, 2010

By RICHARD DE ATLEY
The Press-Enterprise

No murder charge has been filed against the man arrested for the Sunday night slaying of Riverside Police Officer Ryan Bonaminio, a spokesman for the Riverside County district attorney's office said today.

A court document in Riverside Superior Court is a booking file for Earl Ellis Green, 44, of Rubidoux who is under investigation for Bonaminio's slaying in Riverside's Fairmount Park.

District attorney spokesman John Hall said Green's case is still being reviewed today. If any charges are filed that will happen on Monday along with his arraignment. "We will not be making a decision today," Hall said.

If a murder charge is filed against Green it likely will contain special circumstances including slaying of a police officer, which can bring the death penalty in the case. The current docket only mentions the charge of murder against him.

Green was taken into custody 46 hours after police began their investigation.

Bonaminio was killed after a brief foot chase in Fairmount Park. The four-year veteran of the department was after a suspected hit-run driver who jumped from a stolen tractor-trailer cab and ran after Bonaminio pulled him over.

The 27-year-old officer and Iraq War veteran died pleading with his shooter "Don't do this," Riverside Police Chief Sergio Diaz said.

Police have not confirmed Bonaminio was shot with his own gun, but it was missing after he was killed and recovered during searches police conducted early Wednesday morning at one of three locations. Three rounds had been fired.

Police have said there are no other suspects in the case.

Green was arrested by Riverside police and FBI agents in the parking lot of a Target department store on Tuesday night, hours after a fingerprint was found in the stolen tractor trailer cab linked Green to the crime, police said.

Green has a lengthy record of felonies and misdemeanors including vehicle theft and assault on a police officer, court records show.

I bet Earl is one of the notorious Greens but I could be wrong. Back in the 80s, my friend's sister had a friend that was raped and killed by a Green and her body dumped near a dumpster at that dairy farm on Rubidoux Blvd, appromixately north of 34th street.