Friend of teen killed by CHP accused of making threats against officer who opened fire

July 14, 2016 6 AM PT

A friend of a 19-year-old man fatally shot by two undercover California Highway Patrol officers last week has been arrested on suspicion of making threats against one of the officers who opened fire, according to interviews and court documents.

The 17-year-old suspect surrendered to Los Angeles County Sheriff’s deputies on Tuesday afternoon, said his attorney, John Blanchard.

According to a search warrant reviewed by The Times, the teenager posted a picture to Instagram of a CHP officer involved in the July 3 shooting death of Pedro Erik Villanueva. The caption on the picture asked others to find out where the officer lived, referred to him as a “pig” and used another profanity to describe the officer.

“Person Who Finds his patrol vehicle #, Or Home location, gets a BIG tip,” the post said, according to the warrant. “To All Officers Of The Law, nothing here is illegal, this officer has become famous, And reasons for info, due to wanting to interview the officer.”

On another Instagram post that included the same photograph, the teen posted a comment saying he wanted to “dump” the officers, which investigators took to mean he wanted to shoot or kill police, according to the warrant. Other users on the same thread called for payback, and at least one made a reference to shooting the officer, the warrant said.

The photo had been circulating among Villanueva’s friends, the teen told The Times in a phone interview shortly before he surrendered to authorities Tuesday. The teen, who went to school with Villanueva several years ago and last spoke to him in June, said he had no plans to hurt police. Investigators misinterpreted his messages, he said.

The Times is withholding his name because he is a juvenile.

It’s not clear how the Instagram users were able to identify the officers who shot Villanueva. The CHP has yet to publicly identify the pair.

Blanchard called the arrest an overreaction by law enforcement after the killing of five police officers in Dallas last week.

“Like a lot of other citizens, he’s upset that his friend was killed for no reason. He was venting,” Blanchard said. “This is a 17-year-old boy who has no means, no intent of harming any officer. Certainly after the Dallas shootings, the cops are hyper-sensitive. They circled the wagons, and now they’re lashing out.”

CHP investigators discovered the Instagram post on July 6, the day before the Dallas shooting, according to the court document. The warrant for the teen’s arrest was obtained on Monday, several days after the attack.

The search warrant asked a judge for permission to examine a residence associated with the teen and his car for weapons along with electronic devices, including laptops and cell phones for other communications and messages.

Sgt. Jose Nunez, a spokesman for the CHP’s Southern Division, said the teen was being held at Los Padrinos Juvenile Detention Center. He is scheduled to be in court on Friday, Blanchard said.

The case will be presented to the Los Angeles County district attorney’s office later this week, according to Nunez, who said releasing further information might jeopardize a prosecution.

“The threat involved social [media] posts advocating violent acts, shooting officers, however the thread singled out a specific CHP officer as the objective of the violent acts,” Nunez wrote in an e-mail.

Villanueva was driving one of dozens of trucks that were performing doughnuts and other dangerous vehicle stunts at a “sideshow” near the Santa Fe Springs swap meet on July 3, the CHP has said. Two undercover officers were monitoring the sideshow. Authorities said Villanueva fled from the scene at speeds approaching 90 miles per hour when marked CHP cruisers came to break up the rally.

The undercover officers followed Villanueva for five miles into Fullerton. Villanueva made a U-turn after reaching a dead end on North Pritchard Avenue and drove his red Chevy Silverado pick-up toward the officers, who both opened fire, according to Fullerton Police.

Villanueva died at the scene. His 18-year-old passenger was wounded, but survived. While the passenger was not charged with a crime, Fullerton Police have declined to release his name, citing the ongoing investigation.

Before he surrendered this week, the teen accused of making threats told The Times anything he posted on social media after Villanueva’s death was only meant as a call for justice for his friend.

“My intentions were pretty much just part of the black and brown movement,” he said. “Pretty much it was just justice for Pedro.”

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