Information presented in court Friday in the case of Jonas Torres described him as having thought he’d parked his car when he saw the cruiser pull into an alley behind him early the morning of Nov. 1. But the car sped backward nearly 30 feet, then hit the front of officer David Firebaugh’s patrol car and pushed it nearly 7 feet.
Firebaugh has said fearing for his safety led him to fire his gun twice, missing Torres but striking his car.
Those who did included Deputy Sheriff Nick Reyna, who said he spoke to Torres in Spanish while trying to calm him as the man called Firebaugh a racist and a Nazi.
The evidence Torres wants suppressed is a statement he gave authorities after Firebaugh’s use of his gun. In the statement, played in court, Torres told detectives that he had been drinking at a bar and was driving home when he saw a police car behind him.
“We’re you drunk?” a detective asked.
“Yes, I’m not going to lie, I was,” Torres replied.
During that statement, Torres also explained that he thought he had put his car in “park” and said that he did not intend to ram the officer’s car.
In the motion to suppress evidence, Torres’ lawyer contends that Firebaugh did not have sufficient cause to stop Torres and that police waited too long n nearly four hours after the gunfire n to administer a breath test. It showed that Torres’ blood-alcohol exceeded the limit for driving legally.
Herman gave both lawyers 10 days in which to submit written arguments before he issues a ruling.
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