SF: Police shoot to kill father in the Mission Distrit

- Delfin Vigil, Chronicle Staff Writer
Monday, June 26, 2006

San Francisco police fatally shot a suspected
drug dealer Saturday after the man tried to run
over two officers in the Mission District with a
stolen car, a spokesman said Sunday.

Oliver Lefiti, a 37-year-old nightclub
bouncer and resident of South San Francisco, died
at San Francisco General Hospital early Sunday
morning surrounded by his mother, brother,
girlfriend and teenage son.

The family is questioning whether police used
excessive force in the incident.

"His body was so full of bullet holes -- from
his neck to his legs," said Lefiti's mother, Ana,
who received the news of her son's shooting while
she was at his aunt's funeral Saturday evening.
"Why did they have to shoot at him so many times?"

Two officers confronted Lefiti after a caller
reported seeing someone selling drugs from a blue
car on Hoff Street at 5:15 p.m., Sgt. Neville
Gittens said.

When Officer Jamie Hyun, who has been on the
force for four years, and Gerard Arquero, on the
force for six, didn't find the car on Hoff
Street, they drove around the neighborhood in a
patrol car looking for it. At 5:55 p.m. they
spotted Lefiti sitting in a blue Honda Prelude
parked on nearby Capp Street, between 15th and
16th streets, Gittens said.

"The officers stated that they parked their
patrol car at an angle in front of the suspect's
car, got out and ordered him numerous times to
step out of the vehicle and put his hands up,"
Gittens said. "The officers stated that he
refused to do that and instead drove his car
toward the officers in an attempt to run them
over. The officers stated that they then fired at
the suspect."

Gittens said Lefiti was alone in the car.
Neither officer was injured. Gittens said both
officers were immediately placed on
administrative leave for the duration of the
investigation.

Lefiti's car, which Gittens said was stolen,
accelerated for about 50 feet before crashing
into a parked car. The officers then approached
Lefiti to give first aid and called paramedics,
who took him to San Francisco General Hospital.

"They shot my man like a dog," said Lefiti's
girlfriend, Wendy Timbreza, who said she does not
believe Lefiti was a drug dealer. "The police
didn't have to do what they did. Why couldn't
they have just shot at his tires?"

Lefiti's relatives and Timbreza said they
haven't received details on the incident from
police, although Gittens said he called Lefiti's
mother twice on Sunday.

Timbreza said Lefiti was an outgoing guy whom
she saw act nervous only once when they first met
at a party in 2002 and he asked her to dance. The
6-foot-3-inch, 380-pound Samoan American went by
the nickname "Big O" and spent much of his time
as a bouncer for clubs like San Francisco's
Rawhide and 111 Minna, according to Timbreza, who
lived with Lefiti and his younger brother, Mike.

"My brother used to sell drugs, but that was
like 15 years ago," said Mike Lefiti, who said
his brother did not own a car but often borrowed
cars from friends. He said Lefiti often
volunteered as a counselor for kids arrested in
San Francisco.

"He was a changed man," Mike Lefiti said.
"There were never any drugs in our house as far
as I know. Me, him and our mom were all together
on Saturday morning making plans for our auntie's
funeral, which he was going to be a pallbearer
for. "

Lefiti grew up in Daly City and attended
Westmoor High School there. He leaves a daughter
and a son from two past relationships.

"His son Anthony is just a sophomore in high
school," said Mike Lefiti. "His son saw him take
his last breath and watched him flatline."

E-mail Delfin Vigil at dvigil [at] sfchronicle.com.