Legos And Transfiguration
You can’t make this stuff up. Here’s a press release from DA Todd Spitzer’s office detailing the killing of a driver by Anthony Michael Hanzal, 43, of Anaheim, a drug-addled petty thief who was chased by Fullerton police for shoplifting some Legos from an Albertson’s the week before Christmas.
An undercover cop called in the crime and uniformed cops took over the pursuit of the big heist perp.
The pursuit turned into a high-speed chase on the 91 and in Buena Park and La Palma where the petty thief ran a red light and t-boned the car of his victim.
How in the world did a few bucks worth of plastic culminate in the death of a 67 year old woman in La Palma? Pretty obviously some poor decisions were made all around, but you have to wonder why the cops had to convert this almost ridiculous episode into a chase endangering an awful lot of people and resulting in a death and who knows how many tens of thousands of dollars in vehicle damage.
Somebody needs to do some hard thinking about this sort of thing. Will they?
Of course no OC DA press release would be complete without a stupid speech from Todd Spitzer, and he doesn’t fail to oblige us with this no-nonsense, tough on crime pabulum:
“Enough is enough. Actions have consequences and I am mad as hell that an elderly woman is dead because a drug addicted repeat thief decided to steal Legos from a grocery store and then lead multiple police agencies on a high-speed chase through Orange County in the middle of the day,” said Orange County District Attorney Todd Spitzer. “Marianne Casey’s family should be planning their holiday celebrations and instead they are planning a funeral because California’s soft-on-crime policies have created an environment where there is no accountability. Those days are over, and while may be of little comfort to Marianne Casey’s loved ones, if you commit crimes in Orange County, there will be consequences for your actions and there will be justice for victims.”
Ironically Ms. Casey is referred to as “elderly” even though she was only a year or so older than Spitzer himself when a completely unnecessary incident ended her life.
Swiping Legos is the Crime of the Century, but suborning perjury to undermine a democratic election gets a hard pass from Spitzer. What a clown.
The misrepresented but valid signature irregularity. Yeah that deserves someone being killed.
Try and have a point.
Valid signature irregularity? Those signatures from Democrats supporting Mr. MAGA didn’t collect themselves, dimwit.
We all know Democrats are never held accountable.
Another witless escalation. Why didn’t Mr. Undercover just arrest the guy before he got in a car?
Maybe he feared for his safety from Mr. Lego.
Haha. We can’t know. We weren’t there. Some things are unknowable. Let the investigation work its magic.
Mr. Lego had super-human strength due to those drugs. The strength of ten men, or so.
Good thing we have Toddy to protect us from Lego thieves and Bible preachers in fish taco restaurants.
A copy/paste from my post in the Observer which they (gasp) actually let in (unlike my last 10).
I am just trying to understand. Details about the circumstances surrounding this incident are missing.
1. Was the “undercover officer” on FPD duty at the time?
2. Was he working a private side job as security for Albertson’s?
3. Was he working alone?
4. Was the “unmarked police car” his take home, personal, or a true undercover car?
5. Was the want for Hanzal accurately communicated to Buena Park and La Palma PDs? What *was* communicated to them?
6. What was the value of the stolen Legos? The filed charges suggest it was under $950, and that without his prior convictions (which were presumably unknown at the time of the pursuit) this would have been considered a misdemeanor theft.
I think that these questions should be addressed sooner rather than later. In any case, the appropriate remedy for any alleged deficiencies in the police handling of this matter are civil, not criminal.
Certainly the dead woman’s family has a case, I would think, against the FPD (us), This was all unnecessary.
Garo? is that you?
Nah. Experienced enough both to hate Garo and to know what questions should be asked. All of those questions will certainly be asked, under oath, so might as well come out with the answers to them all now. Someone died. No matter how much I may support the police, some sort of justification for the entirety of the pursuit, if it exists, should be offered. I’m just not seeing it, and it’s unlikely a jury will, either. The hit and run gives greater justification for a pursuit, and I’d like to know more about he timing of that as well. It’s possible the pursuit was not justified until the hit and run occurred, but it was justified afterwards. Trying to do the math on where the liability may lie, as it’s going to come out of the pockets of the Fullerton (and possibly Buena Park and La Palma) taxpayers, which includes me.
Enough is enough! We can’t let these Lego thieves run wild in our community, and I will put a stop to them!!
Lesson 1 don’t steal asshole. Lesson 2 don’t run from the po-lice.
The fatal accident occurred at the intersection of La Palma and Moody in the City of La Palma, not Buena Park.
Thanks, I’ll fix it.
The police department who chased the LEGO bandit was La Palma police.
He was chased by THREE different departments, each effort cantilevered by Mr. Undercover in the Fullerton Albertsons.
La Palma PD = Mayberry PD (only not as skilled and competent)
Spitzer loves to politicize tragedy almost as much as he loves himself.
Exactly! What kind of an asshole would turn a death caused by stupid escalation into a tough on crime screed?
We can always count on Todd to be Todd. There is no bigger douchebag in all Orange County than Todd Milhouse Spitzer.
This is the idiot civilian who got his gun and handcuffs to subdue Bible Boy, the sad sack proselytizer in the Foothill Ranch Wahoo’s because he was looking at Spitzer’s plastic knife (see photo, above).
Legos, fish tacos, Spitzer.
I saw this story and it sucks. First it seems the dollar amount of the crime doesn’t matter to Californians per the last election. Theft is theft.
But of course this is not about the Legos. As far as I know if you fail to stop when being pulled over it’s going to end up in a chase. They don’t just give up. Should they? Does it matter what the original offense is?
I think the willingness to endanger the public with a high speed pursuit should be based should have virtually nothing to do with the original crime it should be about whatever mayhem they’re trying to prevent. A murderer or terrorist could be apt to kill more people so it makes sense to use more extreme tactics.
Most other things they could track aerially, tag the vehicle or just go by the license plate and whatever other evidence they have to let the person escape for the moment and catch them later.
Chasing is a stupid risk put into innocent bystanders. Many cities have a “no chase” policy to avoid this kind of disaster.
With all of the surveillance cameras and cell phone records available now, it’s easy enough to let the perp drive away and pick them up safely later.
This is just idiotic.
100%. Why didn’t undercover clown take a couple of pics and then see if the store even wanted to pursue the matter? Cops.
“catch them later” ? Negative Gannon. That would require a paucity of apple fritters at B&B. Those kind of distractions don’t come very often. Just the facts please.
Comment of the Year, maybe.
The same useless DA fuck who missed all the Andrew Do stuff and all the criminal Anaheim/Sidhu/Melahat dope shit.
Spitzer’s head is shoved so far up his ass he can see through his own teeth.
I want a non-elderly DA who isn’t afraid of his own shadow.
“Somebody needs to do some hard thinking about this sort of thing. Will they?”
Nope.
It’s hard to blame the BP and La Palma cops who inherited a stupid escalation based on the paltriest of reasons. But Fullerton – where no dumb mistake goes unrewarded.
There may be blame/liability for both depending on the facts in their possession at the time each reinitiated the pursuit. BP may have liability if they reinitiated solely with the knowledge a petty theft occurred and no other info. La Palma may have the least liability because they likely had knowledge a hit and run had occurred. But there are hit and runs with minor ouwie damage and then there are HIT AND RUNs. Based upon the charges filed, there were no injuries in the hit and run, so I’m interested in the amount of damage and the exact circumstances there. That’s why it’s critical to know what sort of information was communicated to BP and LP prior to/during each of their pursuits. The recording of radio traffic should be released. Some eager person should initiate a public records request.
4 Anaheim police shot and killed a guy holding a squirt gun.
The call was for a possible robbery. He had a replica firearm. It was dark. Calling it a squirt gun is irresponsible. DOJ is investigating. Wait until a photo is released. DOJ is controlling the investigation and release of information.
This wouldn’t be the first time Anaheim heroes shot a man. They have a long history of abusing the community they supposedly serve.
Spitzer’s quote actually comes across as a cop parody.
Spitzer IS a parody.
Saw Todd all over FOX News taking advantage of those two shoplifters in the back of a patrol car talking about OC. He’s such a media whore. FOX News host called him Todd Pitzer.
The most dangerous place in the world is getting caught in between Todd Spitzer and a TV camera.
Definitely a trample.
Bricks stolen, cops chase
Elder’s death, D.A. smiles wide
Opportunity
An old woman dead
A wail of trailing sirens
Plastic building bricks