Man Sentenced In Fatal CHP Hit-And-Run Trial

[5-0]

dw, i dont think rollie pollie "cast judgement" as you state. these are just questions he is asking, seems like you are jumping the gun here dw, and are casting judgement yourself. i'm kinda curious myself, why anyone didnt hop in their pv and pursuit the guy. many questions pop in my mind also because i was not there.

rollie asked, why no one shot at him when he fled? i think i know why he asks. i was told that after rodrigues killed clearman, rodrigues actually pulled over the side of the road, a few feet ahead where all the officers where and stopped for a few seconds, then he took off. i dont know if he looked back and saw what he did or if he just decided to take off?


either way its still a great lose.

makakona, (in regards to roaddog) there was talk that his family was hiding him and knew his whereabouts and when all the apb's and bols came out they decided to bring him in to the pd. le all over that area were code5 at his families, friends house, relatives and other places he might have hung out. thats what i heard from other chippies.

[zkriddle]

OAKLAND -- A former Alameda County sheriff's employee was sentenced Wednesday to four years in state prison following his felony hit-and-run conviction for the death of California Highway Patrol Officer Brent Clearman in an accident in Oakland on Aug. 5.

Russell Rodrigues, 47, sobbed throughout a lengthy and emotional hearing at which Clearman's family members and colleagues spoke about how much they miss him, but didn't address the court.

Alameda County Superior Court Judge C. Don Clay said Rodrigues deserved the maximum sentence possible because "he made a conscious decision to disregard the law" because his driving license had been suspended and there was a warrant out for his arrest but he still chose to drive that night.

Clay said Rodrigues, who worked as a civilian clerk and technician for the Sheriff's Office for 20 years before resigning under pressure in 2004 for undisclosed reasons, left the scene of the accident even though there was "tremendous damage to his vehicle" and he knew that "something tragic had happened."

Clearman, 33, a native of Astoria, Ore., served in the U.S. Marine Corps for 12 years -- including duty in the Iraq War -- before joining the CHP in October of 2004. He was struck and killed by Rodrigues about 10:55 p.m. on Aug. 5 on the 66th Avenue entrance to Interstate Highway 880 in Oakland, where Clearman had stopped to investigate a prior crash.

Rodrigues, who could have been placed on probation or given a prison term as short as two years, turned himself in to Oakland police 37 hours later. He pleaded guilty on Sept. 26.

After Rodrigues was arrested, his bail initially was set at $20,000, but a judge later reduced it to $10,000 and he was then able to raise enough money to get out of custody on Aug. 11.

A week later, on Aug. 18, Rodrigues was arrested in Alameda on charges of possession of cocaine base and violating the terms of his bail.

Prosecutors said Rodrigues was a passenger in a car on which Alameda police made a traffic stop.

Alameda County Deputy District Attorney Paul Hora said Rodrigues could face an additional state prison term of up to five years if he's also convicted in that case.

[Chp4me]

No amount of time will erase the loss of Officer Brent Clearman. Two lives were devistated by this tradgedy, and my condolences go out to the family. Going through this process everyone in LE is becoming like family!

[TahoeTex]

zk - thanks for the update. I was able to meet and chat with Officer Clearman during a ride-along a few months ago. Brent was my brother's partner for the first 4 hours of a graveyard shift that they were working as overtime. Serving in the military gave us some common ground to talk about and I was very impressed with him as an individual and an officer. His death is a great loss to the USMC, CHP, and his family and friends. My brother happened to be on scene during the incident and was the first officer to Brent's side after he was hit by the car. The incident shook him and our family up pretty bad so I can only imagine what it did to the Clearmans. My prayers have and will continue to go out to them, as well as all of my fellow brothers and sister in arms, both in the military and law enforcement.

[RoadDog4Life]

rodriguez also made a conscious decision to be completely sober from drugs and alcohol when he turned himself in. like he has not done enough damage to society, he goes out on a crack crave. may you and your family rott in hell and may satan shove his pitch fork up your families arse!

[rollie pollie]

4 years for taking an officers life!!! sounds like justice has failed us again. if his veh. sustained major damage how was he able to drive away. why didnt the other officer's give chase? why didnt they shoot when he started to flee. he obviously knew he killed an officer. our ar15's are capable of hitting a target at 1000 yards. man, i wish i was there. :cry:

[dw]

4 years for taking an officers life!!! sounds like justice has failed us again. if his veh. sustained major damage how was he able to drive away. Believe it or not, it is often possible to drive a vehicle with major damage...

why didnt the other officer's give chase? Obviously because they were too awe-struck at had what just happened... Just like anyone else, they froze under pressure and just stood there and stared. Maybe you should do a little homework before you speculate about what did or did not happen at the scene.

why didnt they shoot when he started to flee. Right -- like they do on CHIPS and the Dukes of Hazard. If only our training included how to properly use a gun, we could have stopped this guy in his tracks. Even could have shot him in the hand, no one with an injured hand could continue to drive.

he obviously knew he killed an officer.I guess he got the ESP training when he worked for the Sheriff's Office -- me, I have never been trained to read someones mind to know exactly what they were thinking. If I were to guess, I'd put my money on him being in too thick of an altered state to perceive the time of day much less killing a police officer.

our ar15's are capable of hitting a target at 1000 yards. man, i wish i was there. :cry: Our? I have yet to see anything indicating you're an officer. Yeah, I wish you were there too so you could have taken care of business, unlike the officers that stood by Brent's side and drank coffee.

I feel the same as many regarding the sentence handed down, but do not second guess or Monday morning quarterback the actions of the officers who stood by Brent's side during his final moments. You were not there and you have no right to cast judgement on those who were.

[wannabedispatcher]

Wow, that was kind of harsh. I'm sure that Rollie Pollie didn't mean any harm or disrespect to anyone. He was just expressing his outrage. Everyone was devastated by the loss of Officer Clearman and everyone knows that fellow officers did everything possible at the time. I wish people wouldn't be so critical on here. There is a place and time for sarcasm and it just doesn't seem appropriate here.

[makakona]

ouch, only four years? :sad: it's too bad common sense can't be accepted as legit evidence... it's obvious the idiot was toasted when the accident occurred.

i thought about officer clearman's family a lot today, after reading the most recent zenith that covered the other deaths just prior to officer clearman's. my heart aches for those families. brings tears to my eyes just typing about it.

all other commentary aside, i was sure rollie pollie is an officer. just because someone doesn't register as one doesn't mean they aren't.

roaddog, is there info that i missed about the dirtbag's family for which they should be blamed? i'd hate to think that i might someday be held accountable based on genetics alone for dirtbag decisions other people make.

[makakona]

thanks, 5-0. in that case... :\

i'm sensitive to being painted with the family brush, as my husband has some less-than-savory relatives that we sometimes are lumped in with, much to our embarrassment. but hey, if rodrigues' family earned it, i'll stand next to roaddog.

sad that he faces more time for being caught with drug paraphenalia on bail than he was sentenced to serve for killing an innocent servant of our state and country. maybe it's not sad... whatever keeps him locked up longer. bastard.

[CQB110]

It doesn't matter what went down at this terrible incident :mad:. The point to me is 4 yrs is BS.

We lost a brother and it hurts. God bless you and your family Brent!

[Mac]

OAKLAND -- A former Alameda County sheriff's employee was sentenced Wednesday to four years in state prison following his felony hit-and-run conviction for the death of California Highway Patrol Officer Brent Clearman in an accident in Oakland on Aug. 5.

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ +++
A week later, on Aug. 18, Rodrigues was arrested in Alameda on charges of possession of cocaine base and violating the terms of his bail.

Prosecutors said Rodrigues was a passenger in a car on which Alameda police made a traffic stop.

Alameda County Deputy District Attorney Paul Hora said Rodrigues could face an additional state prison term of up to five years if he's also convicted in that case.
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ +++

FOUR years for killing somebody (a law enforcement officer, no less) and fleeing the scene, but FIVE years for possession of dope. Guess that shows where the priorities lie in our so-called "justice" system.

[chp36]

why didnt the other officer's give chase?

rollie pollie,

I am not going to cast judgement on your question, as I will not second guess or pass judgement on the officers present at the incident that took our brothers life. However, think about this, I your brother was dying would you chase the guy who did this or stand by your brother's side and do everything in your power to try and save his life. I can tell you for me personally trying to save my partner would come before anything else and the sh*& bag will get his later.

[RAT Power]

I'll try and be as sensitive as I can. From what I understand (if someone has more details of the T/C, please correct me) Rodriguez was not Party #1 in the collision, if you know what I mean. Therefore, since he did not violate a vehicle code section, he could not be charged with manslaughter. All he was charged with was some 14-6 section and 20001. And I don't know what the usual sentence is for 20001. Is 4 years alot or little for felony hit and run? I am in no way trying to make light of the situation. Brent was in my junior class and will be missed dearly. God bless him and his family.

[Yzeman]

The sad fact is that after you've been with Law Enforcement for a while, and seen the way the Judicial system sometimes works....nothing surprises you anymore. I remember when the tc happened, but I don't know the details surrounding the crash, but details aside (I know...don't let facts get in the way), 4 years seems a tad on the low side...by about 21 years to start.

At any rate, I have to support dw in his reaction to rollie pollie on this one. None of us are in a position to monday-morning-quarterback the action of any of the Officers at the scene...if you're not 'On-Scene'....don't try to run the scene.

Bottom line....we will carry on and continue to love and support Officer Clearman's family and his memory.

[Mac]

All very well said, S-5.

This second-guessing and "monday morning quarterbacking" by wannabes with no training or experience is really starting to get old. Put yourself in the boots of those officers who just watched one of their brothers get killed right in front of them, and think about how you'd like a civilian second-guessing what you did and how you did it.

[retchp]

I'm confused by RatPower's post above..."he did not violate any Vehicle Code Section and thus could not be charged with manslaughter"...or words to that effect.

If I remember correctly, running over someone is a violation of 22350 VC, Unsafe speed for conditions is it not? Thus you have the unlawful killing of a person while engaged in an unlawful act, ergo you have at manslaughter don't you? Now whether it rises to the level of a felony manslaughter would depend on other factors to which I am not privvy.

In fact, I have never seen the report and the only thing I know about the case is what I read on here. But I am genuinely curious as to why manslaughter would not apply and I believe it does. Maybe it just rises to the level of misdemeanor manslaughter? Enlightenment please.

[dw]

I'm confused by RatPower's post above..."he did not violate any Vehicle Code Section and thus could not be charged with manslaughter"...or words to that effect.

If I remember correctly, running over someone is a violation of 22350 VC, Unsafe speed for conditions is it not? Thus you have the unlawful killing of a person while engaged in an unlawful act, ergo you have at manslaughter don't you? Now whether it rises to the level of a felony manslaughter would depend on other factors to which I am not privvy.

In fact, I have never seen the report and the only thing I know about the case is what I read on here. But I am genuinely curious as to why manslaughter would not apply and I believe it does. Maybe it just rises to the level of misdemeanor manslaughter? Enlightenment please.

I'm going to start a topic for this in the private area, I'm not sure we should be discussing facts of this case in an open forum.

[David]

our ar15's are capable of hitting a target at 1000 yards. Huh? 1000 yards? The max combat range you can reasonably expect from a M16/AR-15 family weapon with iron sights is 400 yards for a human size target. And even at 400 yards, the projectile will have lost a lot of energy.

[11629]

four years for the death of an Officer and a lifetime of damage to his family...somehow the equation doesn't quite seem fair and balanced.

The felon who tried to kill me three times (and ended my career) got six years (out in three) and we were mad about that... maybe its cause he had just gotten out of jail from time served for shooting a Long Beach PD?

[CHPUSMC]

Huh? 1000 yards? The max combat range you can reasonably expect from a M16/AR-15 family weapon with iron sights is 400 yards for a human size target. And even at 400 yards, the projectile will have lost a lot of energy.

Humm, back in the day... iron sights = 550 yards was the max effective range on a point target (human), 800 yards on an area target (bigger than a human). With a max range of 3,300ish yards (how far the little thinngy that made the gun go boom went). This discussion has a place on another thread though of course.

4 years for running over Brent, killing Brent, then running away like a coward makes me sick, officer or no officer...

[AyatollahGondola]

I have followed a case in my area in which a man was killed by a hit and run. The perpetrator did break vehicle codes which led to the killing. then he ran. Actually urged everyone with him to run also. The penalty, actual time served was a year. There was a longer sentence, but that was suspended in favor of probation with strings attached. It just does not seem as though the judges are willing to take the lot of crimes associated with vehicles as serious as the general public does. It could be because they see so many of them that they start using a sliding scale. You'd think they'd give special attention to LEO victims, but it seems that is sliding away somewhat also.