From [HERE] Police said Valeria “Munique” Tachiquin Alvarado, 32, struck the agent Friday as she pulled the car away from the curb. A second agent reached into her Honda to remove the keys from the ignition, and she pulled forward and struck the first agent again, this time driving with him on the car’s hood.

The agent, fearing for his life, yelled “Stop!” and then pulled out his gun, firing several rounds to halt the car, officials said.  The information from police provides the first detailed look at how the incident unfolded, and aimed to address the questions of family members and residents who doubted the Border Patrol’s initial account.

Based on new details released, at the time she left the apartment she had not committed any crime, she was not the subject of the warrant, not under investigation and there was otherwise no legal basis for police to stop, detain or block her in. As such, she was within her rights to leave. 

Several people in the area witnessed parts of the incident, though some of their accounts differed. According to police, who are leading the investigation into the shooting, a group of plainclothes agents went to an apartment on Moss Street near Oaklawn Avenue shortly before 1 p.m. with an arrest warrant for a felon who had been previously deported and had a history of drug charges.

The unit was known to have prior complaints of drug activity, police Capt. Gary Wedge said.

Alvarado was one of several people inside the apartment when four of the agents approached and identified themselves as law enforcement, Wedge said.

She replied that the man they wanted was in the shower in back, then she brushed past the agents and walked toward her car, Wedge said. The agents alerted two other agents who were guarding the perimeter of the apartment, and they tried to stop her as she got into her Honda. She struck one of them with the car as she started to pull away, police said. 

The agent, who wore a badge on his belt, told her she was under arrest for vehicular assault, while a second agent with a badge around his neck smashed the driver’s side window and tried to remove the keys, Wedge said. Alvarado struck the first agent again, driving west on Moss with him on her hood, investigators said.

Witnesses told police that she was going about 25 mph, and at one point drove through oncoming traffic while attempting to pass another vehicle. Witnesses said the agent appeared scared and yelled “Stop.”

After driving about 200 yards, she made a turning maneuver near Oaklawn. It was at that time that a witness told police the agent drew his weapon and fired multiple rounds through the windshield, Wedge said.

When the car stopped in the middle of the street, the agents attempted first aid until medics arrived, but she died at the scene. Alvarado was shot nine times, said San Diego attorney Eugene Iredale, who has been hired by the family.

The agent, whose name neither police nor the Border Patrol has made public, was taken to a hospital for unknown injuries and later released. Wedge said the agent has several years of law enforcement experience.

The wanted felon never was arrested, authorities said. His name has not been released.

Sounds Like Crap

Iredale said Tuesday that the new information has “raised more questions than answers.”

“Why were they blocking her way? She was not the subject of any warrant. There’s no evidence she committed any crime. She had the right to leave the area,” Iredale said.

The attorney also pointed to the accounts of at least three witnesses who said the agent was standing upright, walking forward toward Alvarado’s car as it went in reverse when the shots were fired.

“The key question is, where was the agent when he fired the fatal shot?” he asked.

The attorney said he plans to conduct an investigation and have witnesses interviewed before the family decides whether to file a lawsuit.

Alvarado, a married mother of five, was on probation for a 2011 drug-related conviction, police said.

Alvarado’s family members did not return phone calls or emails Tuesday night, after the police released the new details. Police said they told her brother earlier in the day about their findings.

When her father spoke to reporters on Monday, he expressed concern that authorities were going to attack Alvarado’s character, and were “going to want to make my daughter look bad.”

“My daughter was a lovely person, a loving mother, a loving daughter, a good sister. That’s all I can say,” Valentin Tachiquin told reporters. He works as a corrections officer at a women’s prison in Corona.

Alvarado has at least two other criminal cases, from 2004 and 2000, according to court records. Details on those cases were not immediately available.

She lived in Southcrest, although some witnesses told U-T San Diego they saw her Honda often parked on the street at Moss and Oaklawn. Her family said the night of the shooting that they did not know why she was in the neighborhood.

Christian Ramirez, human rights director for Alliance San Diego, said his organization was pleased that the initial investigation has provided some insight into what happened but that many questions remain. The group helped the family organize a news conference Monday morning and a candlelight vigil that night in Chula Vista, which several hundred people attended.

As for Alvarado being in the apartment Friday, Ramirez said, “Our understanding is that she was in the wrong place at the wrong time.”

The FBI and federal Office of the Inspector General is monitoring the investigation. The case is also expected to be submitted to the San Diego County District Attorney’s Office for review.