Slain Man Tried to Run Officer Down, Seal Beach Police Say

Robert Lane Reich, the Huntington Beach teen-ager shot to death by a Seal Beach police officer over the weekend, tried to run the officer down just before he was killed, authorities said Monday.

As Reich turned the wheels of his white Toyota sedan toward Michael Vasquez, an officer for 17 years, Vasquez feared that Reich was about to try to run him down again, according to a statement issued by the Seal Beach department Monday. He drew his weapon, a .45-caliber automatic, and fired four shots through the windshield of Reich’s car, apparently hitting the 18-year-old in the jaw and arm, Seal Beach Police Chief Stacy Picascia said.

Reich was shot in the 11100 block of Bingham Street, a cul-de-sac in Cerritos. Vasquez, who was accompanied in the car by Sgt. Ross Smith, first tried to stop Reich after he sped out of a parking lot at Pacific Coast Highway and 12th Street in Seal Beach, police said.

Reich led the Seal Beach officers on an 11-minute chase through Long Beach, Los Alamitos and Cerritos before running into a dead-end on Bingham Street.

At one point during the chase, Reich steered his car on a head-on collision course with a Los Alamitos police car that had joined the chase along the 605 Freeway, according to Seal Beach Police Capt. Ken Garrett. The Los Alamitos officer, Morris Renaud, had to turn his car into the curb at the last second to avoid a crash, Garrett said.

After Reich reached the dead-end on Bingham Street, his car and the Seal Beach police car collided, Garrett said. Vasquez jumped out and was behind the Toyota when Reich threw the car into reverse and backed up straight at the officer, hitting his left leg and spinning him around, Picascia said. The Toyota then continued backward into the Los Alamitos police car with enough force to smash in the front end of the heavier car and drive it back a foot, Picascia said.

Vasquez, who by then was standing in front and to the right of Reich’s car, saw Reich turn the wheels in his direction and fired before the Toyota came at him again, Garrett said.

Reich died at the scene. An autopsy is scheduled to be performed today by the Los Angeles County coroner’s office.

The Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department, in whose jurisdiction the shooting occurred, is investigating the homicide. Seal Beach police are conducting an internal investigation into the officer-involved shooting, Picascia said.

Vasquez, who suffered only minor bruises in the incident, and Smith had scheduled days off Monday. Picascia said they would either be returned to their normal duties or be placed on administrative leave until the investigation is completed. “We’ll have to see how they feel,” he said.

A search of Reich’s car produced no clues as to why the youth made such a desperate effort to escape the police. There were no drugs or weapons in the car, and a search of the chase route for evidence possibly thrown out of the car by Reich also turned up nothing, Picascia said.

“We are trying to come up with a reason why somebody would act the way he did, in doing almost anything possible to get away,” Picascia said.

The Toyota driven by Reich is owned by Winkler Flexible Products Inc. of Los Angeles. Reich’s father, Jerome Reich, is president of the company.

The elder Reich called the shooting “a debacle” and said he and his son had recently moved to Orange County--from Wisconsin, according to police. But Reich refused to provide any more information on his son or on what he was doing Saturday night before he was killed.