shooting of Chargers linebacker Steve Foley

from union tribune

By Kristina Davis
UNION-TRIBUNE STAFF WRITER
September 22, 2006

Aaron Mansker
In separate interviews with investigators, two very different perspectives emerged as off-duty Officer Aaron Mansker and Lisa Maree Gaut recounted the harrowing details surrounding the shooting of Chargers linebacker Steve Foley.

In one of the taped interviews, obtained yesterday by The San Diego Union-Tribune, 25-year-old Gaut, who was with Foley, is heard crying as she recalls being followed by Mansker, who was driving a black Mazda.

She said the pair thought they were being pursued because Foley was a football player.

Gaut told deputies that when they neared Foley's home on Travertine Court in Poway, Foley got out and Mansker just fired at him.

“And then all of a sudden I see the guy get out of the car and just start shooting at him,” she said. “So I get in the driver seat and I pull into the driveway. His car is like a racer car so it's hard to get in gear. So I tried putting it in reverse and I backed up and I was going to go back to pick him up.”

Mansker, 23, told a roomful of investigators another version of the Sept. 3 encounter with Foley: “He kept coming toward me. I said, 'Police, stop. You need to stop.' He continued. I drew my gun again,” Mansker said.

Mansker said he then fired one warning shot into a dirt berm.

“I'm thinking, 'Oh my God, he's still walking up.' Which made me very nervous. If someone is shooting, whether at you or in the area, you're probably going to leave, that should be your first reaction. That's not the case.”

Mansker said Foley then started reaching into his waistband as he drew near.

“I thought for sure he's going to pull his gun and I'm gone. . . . I'm not going home tonight,” Mansker said.

After firing a few rounds at Foley, he then turned his attention back to Gaut, who he said had just tried to run him down with a car.

“She's revving, and I'm thinking, OK, she's going to run me over. I'm done here.”

Gaut, on the other hand, told investigators that she never heard Mansker, who was dressed in plainclothes, identify himself as an officer.

“I thought it was just some, just a regular person,” Gaut said.

Gaut is charged with assault with a deadly weapon and drunken driving in the incident.

Foley, 31, who is still recovering from three gunshot wounds, has not been charged. Sheriff's investigators have recommended misdemeanor drunken driving charges to the county District Attorney's Office because of Foley's 0.23 blood-alcohol level.

When a sheriff's investigator asks Mansker if his badge was visible during the incident, he replied, “I honestly don't know.”

In photos taken by investigators after the shooting, Mansker is seen wearing a white T-shirt, blue jeans and black sneakers.
His gun holster is seen as a bulge under his untucked shirt, which is pulled up to show his badge clipped onto his belt.

Mansker, driving his own Mazda, was on his way home from work at 3 a.m. when he spotted Foley on state Route 163 weaving all over the road, he told investigators.

According to Coronado police policy, off-duty officers, especially those in unmarked cars, “shall not enforce traffic violations unless the nature of the violation presents an immediate, substantial threat of serious injury or death,” such as reckless driving and drunken driving.

The policy, released by the department this week, also states that unmarked vehicles shall not be used in pursuits.

Whether Mansker was in pursuit or merely following Foley is still being investigated.

He called the California Highway Patrol on his radio to ask for uniformed backup, but units didn't show up until after the shooting.

At first, a dispatcher told him there were no units in the area, according to dispatch tapes obtained by the Union-Tribune.

The nearest available officer was several minutes away, at Interstate 5 and 28th Street.

“She said, 'Why don't you try calling San Diego or sheriff's?' I said, 'Great, thanks,' ” Mansker recalled to investigators, with a little sarcastic snort.

When a CHP dispatcher notifies a sheriff's dispatcher about what is happening, the sheriff's dispatcher seems taken aback.

“Yeah, I'm surprised he got him to pull over. I wouldn't pull over for him,” she says on the tape.

Later, Mansker, who is unfamiliar with the area, is heard giving sheriff's dispatchers wrong street names, such as Travernice instead of Travertine Court.

Still, Mansker sounded calm on the radio during the 20 minutes he followed Foley.

In his hour-and-45-minute interview with investigators, the rookie officer said he has followed suspected drunken drivers while off-duty before. They ended up not being drunk.

“I followed a guy from the 15 all the way to my house in Escondido, and he's weaving in and about lanes, speeding. I followed him through Escondido, Escondido PD stopped him, and he was just tired,” he said. “One lady I had CHP stop, and she was just diabetic.”

Mansker said he has been involved in about 14 or more drunken-driving arrests and has pulled over many more suspected of driving under the influence.

“I take people off all the time and check them and make sure they're OK,” he said.

Staff writer Angelica Martinez contributed to this report.



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Kristina Davis: (760) 476-8233; kristina.davis@uniontrib.com