SUSPECT IN FATAL POLICE CHASE UP FOR MURDER

Case basis -- crime leading to a homicide

A man who had been sought for two months in a controversial police shooting
that killed a 17- year-old girl turned himself in yesterday to face murder
charges.

Michael Negron, 23, of San Francisco, was accompanied by his attorney,
Stuart Hanlon, as he gave himself up at the Hall of Justice. He was
scheduled to be arraigned today on charges of murder, carjacking,
hit-and-run and assault .

Police said Negron was behind the wheel of a Ford Mustang that drove at two
officers May 13 as they tried to make a drug arrest at the Oakwood
Apartments near Lake Merced. The officers opened fire, killing a passenger
in the car, Sheila Detoy of San Francisco.

After speeding away, Negron allegedly crashed the Mustang head-on into
another motorist on Sloat Boulevard. He and the man whom police had been
seeking, Raymondo Cox, then allegedly hijacked a car and fled, leaving Detoy
for dead.

Cox was caught the next day after a car-and-foot chase by police. A Daly
City police officer stopped Negron during the pursuit, but Negron escaped by
driving over the officer's motorcycle, authorities said.

Negron will be charged in Detoy's death based on the ``provocative act
theory,'' which allows for murder charges to be brought if a crime leads to
a homicide.

Hanlon said he met his client for the first time last week and that Negron
was ``petrified'' of police. After talking to his family, Negron agreed to
surrender at 11 a.m. yesterday. He is also facing a felony narcotics warrant
and two misdemeanor warrants for burglary and reckless driving.

Negron, Cox and Detoy were all unarmed and fled from the apartment complex
only because they didn't know the men closing in on them were police, Hanlon
said.

He blamed one of the two officers who fired at the car, Gregory Breslin, for
Detoy's death.

``I think the murder charge is against the wrong person,'' Hanlon said. ``A
policeman, Mr. Breslin, killed this girl. My client is a scapegoat -- the
police are trying to use him to cover up for a cop.''

One of the issues in the shooting was the circumstances that led Breslin to
fire.

Lieutenant David Robinson, head of the Police Department's homicide detail,
has said Negron made eye contact with Breslin as he gunned the Mustang's
engine and that the officer feared he would be pinned against a wall.
Another narcotics officer, Michael Moran, opened fire from behind the car to
protect Breslin, Robinson said.

Hanlon said his client came forward after an eyewitness publicly questioned
aspects of the police account. The witness, 25-year-old Winde Toney, has
filed a grievance with the Office of Citizen Complaints, saying the officers
were in no danger when they opened fire.

``The police are making up stories for this rogue cop,'' Hanlon said.

He said Negron was shot in the back during the incident, but would not
reveal details of medical treatment.

Homicide Inspector Michael Johnson said Negron claimed to have treated the
wound himself. He said the wound was examined by Dr. Boyd Stephens, the
city's chief medical examiner, but it was unclear whether the wound was a
back or front wound to the shoulder.

1998 San Francisco Chronicle

Checked-by: Melodi Cornett