Family members of one of the two El Monte police officers murdered in an ambush back in 2022 say that dispatchers failed to tell the officers that the suspect who shot them was high on PCP, meth and had a gun.
Officer Joseph Santana and Corporal Michael Peredes were responding to an assault call at a motel on Gary Avenue that day; they knocked and when the suspect opened the door, he shot and killed them.
KNX News reporter Emily Valdez spoke with Officer Santana's sister, Jessica Santana, outside El Monte City Hall.
[iframe https://www.google.com/maps/embed?pb=!1m18!1m12!1m3!1d38488.69797214478!2d-118.07639606825413!3d34.07123377538489!2m3!1f0!2f0!3f0!3m2!1i1024!2i768!4f13.1!3m3!1m2!1s0x80c2d0a463f6d0ef%3A0x6b0f018ea5b0374d!2sEl%20Monte%2C%20CA!5e1!3m2!1sen!2sus!4v1706571241755!5m2!1sen!2sus allowfullscreen="" height="450" loading="lazy" referrerpolicy="no-referrer-when-downgrade" style="border:0" width="600"]According to Santana, had the two veteran dispatchers shared that the suspect was high, armed and on parole, her brother would still be alive.
She said the family learned of the dispatchers' oversight after rumors surrounding the murder began circulating. They wanted the truth, "So I went into the briefing, and I heard the dispatch calls and saw my brother's body cam," she said.
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Officer Santana's mother, Olga Garcia, was also at the courthouse saying they want justice and demand the two dispatchers be terminated.
"They continue to work months and months after this tragedy, and they're endangering other officers' lives as well," said Garcia. Jessica agrees, saying, "I wanna make sure that they don't step foot in another police department ever again."
Although the information in question was not shared over the radio, it was reportedly in the computer system.
In a statement to KNX News, El Monte's police chief, Jake Fisher, said, "The L.A. County Sheriff's Department and DAS investigators have found no wrongdoing by our police officers or civilian personnel."
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