Omar Esparza was killed after Houston police went into his house around 5:30 p.m.

Jan. 9, 2007, 7:27AM

HPD facing criticism in mentally ill man's death

Family says the 21-year-old shot by police posed no threat

By PEGGY O'HARE

Witness says officer shot handcuffed man; HPD denies it

The family of a mentally ill man shot to death by an officer in Houston's East End disputed police accounts of the incident Monday, saying the slain man had not assaulted his relatives or destroyed their house with a hammer before they called for help.

A local activist also questioned how Houston police handled the incident, asking why officers entered the family's home when Omar B. Esparza was alone inside, instead of waiting in hope of a peaceful resolution.

The incident Sunday was one of two police-involved fatal shootings by the Houston Police Department in two days. A witness to a separate episode Monday afternoon claimed an officer shot a handcuffed suspect during a struggle in southeast Houston.

In Sunday's shooting, Esparza, 21, was killed after Houston police went into his house around 5:30 p.m.

Police said Esparza resisted their pleas to come out of the house for two hours, then charged at the officers with a hammer just before he was shot. But the slain man's family has hired Sugar Land attorney Carlos León and says it will pursue legal action, alleging authorities lied about some of the circumstances.

Esparza's family had called police to help get him to the Neuropsychiatric Center at Ben Taub General Hospital after he locked them out of their house in the 5000 block of Curtin near Harrisburg.

It's a decision his father, Jose Valle, now regrets. "He's traumatized. They killed his son," said family friend Braulio Huerta, translating for Valle. "He just wanted help from them to take him to the hospital."

The local activist criticizing the handling of the incident said that families should never call Houston police to help deal with a mentally ill loved one.

"If they can't solve something from a distance with their toys, the guns come out," said Arlene Kelly, co-founder of Civilians Down, an activist group for families and friends of people killed by police.

The officer who shot Esparza — identified as Rodney D. Chaison Jr., a five-year HPD veteran — has been placed on a minimum of three days' desk duty, a standard procedure.

Chad Hoffman, the Houston Police Officers Union attorney representing Chaison, said the officer was upset by Esparza's death and using deadly force "was the last thing he wanted to do."

Valle said his son, who had no criminal history, began exhibiting symptoms of mental illness about three months ago, though his exact condition had not been diagnosed.

On Sunday, Esparza argued with his 18-year-old sister after Valle drove them to a fast-food restaurant for takeout. All of the food had been placed in one bag, and Esparza thought all of it was his, becoming upset when his sister tried to retrieve her food, his father said.

When the family returned home, Valle tried to persuade his son to go to the psychiatric hospital, but Esparza refused and became upset, sitting in the living room and holding a hammer. The family went outside, and Esparza locked them out, Valle said.

Police said Esparza's parents reported he had assaulted his sister and was "destroying the house" with the hammer, but Valle said Monday that he never made those claims to police and insisted Esparza never became violent with the hammer toward his family.

Valle said he simply wanted police to help get his son to the hospital. When officers arrived at the home, Esparza refused to come out. Police said he threatened to beat officers with the hammer. As officers spoke with him through some burglar bars covering a door, they saw Esparza holding the hammer in one hand and a lock mechanism in the other, Hoffman said.

Officers also saw evidence that some locks throughout the house had been damaged, Hoffman added.

Police continued their discussions with Esparza for two hours to no avail. A Crisis Intervention Team officer, specially trained for dealing with the mentally ill, arrived at the home to help. But Esparza refused to put down the hammer and "continued to show aggressive behavior," threatening officers with the tool, police said.

Valle said he and his wife stood outside and watched nervously as one officer removed a shotgun, which fires beanbag pellets, from the trunk of a police car. As that officer — and another with his gun drawn — approached the house, Valle said he asked them not to hurt his son, reminding them the young man was mentally ill.

The officers entered the home through a side door, calling out the young man's name. Minutes later, Valle said, he and his wife heard five gunshots coming from inside the house. Valle's wife screamed.

When police walked out a short time later, they were visibly upset and "nervous," Valle said.

For four to five hours, Valle and his family waited outside the home, getting no information about his condition, he said. Finally, they learned he had been killed.

The family is also upset that an ambulance was not summoned immediately to check Esparza's vital signs, Huerta said. An ambulance did not show up until three hours after the shooting, he said.

Changing stories?

Police said one officer had fired several rounds of beanbags at Esparza when he first charged toward them with the hammer, but the impact had no effect because Esparza wore several layers of clothing.

A second officer deployed a Taser, but the darts missed Esparza. As Esparza drew closer with the hammer still raised, Chaison fired his gun, police said.

In addition to the hammer Esparza had been holding, police also found a knife sharpener in his pocket, Hoffman said.

Valle said he didn't know how many times his son had been shot. .León, the family's attorney, said the physical evidence at the scene does not match the police officers' version of events.

Citing the ongoing investigation, Houston police would not answer questions about why officers went into the house when they did or whether it appeared all department policies were followed.

Hoffman, the attorney for the officer who fired the deadly shots, said the slain man's family had changed its story, giving the Houston Chronicle a different version of events than they gave officers who first arrived at their home Sunday afternoon.

But the police version also changed. Police first said they "managed" to get the family safely out of the house — then acknowledged Monday that the family had been waiting outside when officers arrived.

Similarly, police initially reported Sunday that a SWAT team had been called to the family's home, but that three officers went inside the residence before SWAT arrived. On Monday, however, Hoffman said police department sources told him SWAT was not en route.

Asked by a Houston city councilman Monday if police could have wounded the man instead of killing him, Police Chief Harold Hurtt said officers are trained to shoot center mass, not in the leg or arm, because that might not stop someone.

"As far as the number of shots or where we shoot people, we use the force that is necessary to stop the threat, whether that's one shot, two shots, three shots."

Chronicle reporter Matt Stiles contributed to this story. peggy.ohare@chron.com