SIX PASADENA OFFICERS CLEARED BY GRAND JURY

Cops Killed 2 Suspects In January Drug Bust

Harris County grand jurors have found no wrongdoing on the part of six
Pasadena police officers involved in a drug bust that resulted in the
shooting deaths of two men and the wounding of another.

Prosecutor Tommy LaFon said Tuesday that the panel investigated the Jan. 6
incident in the 200 block of South Richey near Texas 225, when the police
tried to arrest four men during an alleged cocaine sale.

The six officers fired 46 shots. Officers Kenneth R. Peloquin and B.K.
Powers suffered minor injuries when they were struck by vehicles as the
suspects tried to flee, LaFon said.

"This shooting just comes down to the suspects trying to run over the
officers with their vehicles," LaFon said.

According to police, undercover officers had arranged to meet the group and
sell five kilos of cocaine. After establishing that the buyers had brought
$56,000 in cash and wanted to go through with the transaction, an officer
signaled to others nearby, police have said.

Nine officers then circled the three vehicles in which the men had arrived,
police said, but the men refused to surrender themselves.

Killed in the gunfire were Keithen Briscoe, 24, and Empra TaDar Moore, 23,
both of Houston. Moore's brother, Robert, 19, was hit in the shoulder and
later recovered. He was not charged.

Randy Flores, 18, fled the scene and was later arrested by police, LaFon
said. He pleaded guilty to an illegal expenditure involving narcotics and
criminal solicitation on June 4 and was sentenced to eight years in prison.

The jury found no criminal wrongdoing on the part of Peloquin, 43, and
Powers, 38; Sgt. Stephen J. Pillion, 52, who has been with the department
since 1969; Officer Johnrod A. Bangilan, 31, who has worked there since
1995; Officer Charles K. Hickman, 45, who has been there since 1977; and
Officer Isaac Villareal, 30, who has been there since 1989.

Peloquin has been with the department since 1976 and Powers went to work
there in 1984.

A local radio station and other media outlets had reported that a witness to
the shooting had accused the officers of opening fire on the five men as
they raised their hands to surrender, LaFon said. But that witness was
interviewed again by authorities and backed off that story.