Police fatally shoot homicide suspect on crowded Southern California pier

Newly released body-worn camera footage shows the moment police in Orange County shot and killed a 45-year-old homicide suspect who had driven his vehicle onto the Newport Beach Pier.  

The Feb. 1 incident unfolded when authorities with the Santa Ana Police Department received a 911 call from a dispatch operator with the Menifee Police Department regarding the suspect, now identified as Jose Alfonso Valasquez.  

Detectives in Menifee tracked the 45-year-old’s cellphone to the 1400 block of North Freeman Street, where his ex-wife reportedly lived. The dispatch operator then informed SAPD that Velasquez was wanted for the fatal shooting of a woman, who may have been his girlfriend, in Menifee and that he was likely armed and behind the wheel of a silver Honda CRV.  

Just after 6:30 a.m., two SAPD officers responded to the location and spotted Velasquez’s CRV where he was sitting with a passenger inside the vehicle.  

“As officers approached, the subject immediately fled the area, prompting a pursuit,” SAPD officials said in a video posted online.  

The 45-year-old led officers on an approximately 13-mile chase into Newport Beach where he jumped the curb, and maneuvered around several barricades set up to prevent vehicles from getting on the pier.  

Police followed Velasquez onto the pier where people scrambled to get out of the way of the vehicles. At the end of the pier, the 45-year-old came to a stop and reportedly exited the CRV.  

In footage released by SAPD, responding officers in two police cruisers stopped a short distance behind the suspect and opened fire on him.  

Footage from the Orange County Sheriff’s Department helicopter shows the 45-year-old on the ground beside his vehicle with what appears to be a gun in his right hand. Police said that while Velasquez was on the ground, still armed and breathing, he failed to comply with officers’ commands.  

“Given the ongoing threat posed by the suspect, who did not respond to officers’ verbal commands, a 40 millimeter less-lethal launcher was deployed,” SAPD officials said. “Following the deployment, a police K9 was used to facilitate the officers in handcuffing and arresting the suspect.”  

Medical personnel with the Newport Beach Fire Department arrived at the location and declared Velasquez dead at the scene.  

A firearm believed to be used in the alleged Menifee homicide was recovered at the scene.  

The 45-year-old had previous arrests for driving under the influence, driving on a suspended license and brandishing a firearm in a threatening manner, police said.  

An investigation into the lethal use of force remains ongoing.  

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