Two Fremont police officers who fatally shot a pregnant 16-year-old in Hayward last year during an armed robbery investigation have been cleared of wrongdoing by the Alameda County District Attorney’s Office, an official said today.
Fremont police Capt. Fred Bobbitt said a report from the Alameda County District Attorney’s office determined that Det. Joel Hernandez and Sgt. Jeremy Miskella were justified when they shot into a moving vehicle, striking Elena Mondragon of Antioch on March 14.
Mondragon, later confirmed to be in the first trimester of her pregnancy, was one of four people in a car police had linked to a violent string of armed robberies around the Bay Area, including in Fremont.
“Prior to the incident, the two Fremont officers were wearing plain clothes in an unmarked police vehicle while conducting surveillance of suspects in a covert operation until they exited their vehicle to initiate an arrest,” Hayward City Attorney Michael Lawson said in a previous letter to this organization.
The shooting took place at the City View Apartment Homes complex at 25200 Carlos Bee Blvd., near California State University, East Bay.
Hayward police have said the driver of the suspect vehicle “suddenly rammed the detective’s police vehicles injuring two Fremont detectives,” forcing them to fire at the person driving the vehicle, which is when Mondragon was struck.
The car drove out of the complex after the shooting and later crashed near the intersection of Campus Drive and Oakes Drive, police said. Mondragon was taken to a trauma center where she later died.
Both Fremont officers were treated for minor injuries and released from the hospital. Two others were arrested near the scene, but the driver fled. He was arrested the following night in San Francisco, police said.
The officers are part of the Southern Alameda County Major Crimes Task Force, which is comprised of officers from several law enforcement and government organizations.
The city of Hayward and Fremont police had previously refused requests to release the names of the officers involved in the shooting, saying it was essential to protecting their safety and ability to continue to serve on the task force.
Bobbitt said today that had the names not been released in the district attorney’s report, Fremont police would have continued to withhold their identities.
Both Miskella and Hernandez still serve on the task force, he said.