Unarmed Black Man, Albert Leday Jr., Shot and Killed at End of High-Speed Chase in Santa Rosa, Ca.

Unarmed black man, Albert Leday Jr., shot and killed by CA sheriff's deputy at end of high-speed chase because he twice reached for waistband when ordered to surrender.

There could possibly be fall-out for the Sonoma County Sheriff's office in the shooting death of parolee Albert Leday Jr., at the end of a high-speed car chase on Tuesday in Santa Rosa. Police said he was shot in the chest after he crashed his Volvo station wagon into a light pole outside the Coddingtown Mall and twice reached for his waistband when ordered to surrender. No gun was found. Seems to me he was asking for trouble when he allegedly reached for his waistband. Witnesses on the scene also corroborated the sheriff's deputies account. Since he is a parolee, it's safe to say he knew exactly what being asked to surrender entails. I am sure there will be calls for a thorough investigation into the matter. I wouldn't be surprised if I heard cries of racism as well because it appears Albert Leday Jr. is black.

According to the San Francisco Chronicle, the incident began minutes before the chase when deputies investigated a report of a burglary at the apartment of Leday's ex-girlfriend, said Sonoma County sheriff's Lt. Chris Spallino. The woman said he had stolen jewelry from her and had assaulted her several days earlier, when he was armed with a knife, Spallino told the Chronicle.

Police said he was a dangerous felon with a long history of criminal convictions, most recently in 2003 for burglary. He was paroled on that sentence in October 2009. Court records dating from 1994 show that he had been convicted on charges that included burglary, assault with a deadly weapon and causing great bodily injury, and that he several times had restraining orders issued against him. Justin Leday said his father, who lived in an apartment near West Third Street, was an Army veteran, a loving father of three boys, a doting grandfather and excited to be working as a maintenance technician for a Santa Rosa company that repairs Amtrak buses. Source:  Press Democrat

The name of the deputy who killed Leday has not been released for safety reasons. The incident is under investigation by Santa Rosa police and the Sonoma County district attorney's office. Leday was pronounced dead at Sutter Medical Center. It is a sad end to the life of a man who served in the U.S. military but chose a life of crime rather than being a productive citizen and the father his children deserved. The reality is that the sheriff's deputy had no way of knowing whether or not he was armed, but chose to err on the side of caution.