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Stolen Lives for Northern and Central California - 1997 by Karen Saari

Listed below are the names of some people who have died from police abuse and neglect in 1997 in northern and central California. This is only a partial list and is taken primarily from newspaper accounts found on-line. If you know of someone who was killed by the police in 1997 and is not on the list, please let me know at kmsaari@wco.com.

DATE	NAME	AGE	LOCATION	CIRCUMSTANCES
Dec. 27	Andrew Sorgets	49	Sacramento	High speed chase
Dec. 26	Ray Stoddard	31	Napa	Shot
Dec. 20	Howard Thompson	16	Hayward	Crash evading sobriety check
Dec. 20	Landous Butler	18	Hayward	Crash evading sobriety check
Dec. 6	Michael Atencio	30	San Jose	Shot
Dec. 6	Unidentified		Sacramento	Shot
Nov. 19	Dale Hughes	35	Santa Rosa	Shot 11 times
Nov. 16	Erasmo Cortez	22	San Rafael	High speed chase
Nov. 14	John Dine	41	Santa Cruz	Shot
Nov. 9	Unidentified		San Francisco	Shot
Nov. 7	Judith Harris	49	Los Gatos	Throat slit by cop husband
Nov. 7	Jeffrey Tharp	49	Vallejo	Shot
Nov. 3	Kenneth Stra		Santa Rosa	Died in jail
Oct. 28	John Banks		Santa Rosa	Died 6 hours after leaving jail
Oct. 20	Brian Prosser	39	Novato	Pepper-sprayed
Oct. 4	David Hamilton	52	San Jose	Shot
Oct. ?	Bud Falk	60+	Napa	Died in jail
Sept. 29	Robert McMaster	30	Napa	Shot
Sept. 28	Albert Theil		Sacramento	Carotid restriction hold
Sept. 14	Peter Lau	50	San Francisco	Beaten in jail by an inmate
Sept. 11	Venus Beaird	37	Oakland	Shot
Sept. 3	Minerva Gonzales	36	CCWF	Died in prison
Sept. 1	Doron Liftson	33	Vacaville	Shot
Aug. 3	Hue Truong	38	San Francisco	Shot
Aug. 2	Mildred Porter	60	Oakland	High speed chase
July 21	Francesca Shields		CCWF	Died in prison
July 11	Johnny Williams	20	San Francisco	Shot after high speed chase
June 14	Michael Merriot	30	Visalia	Shot, unarmed
June 20	Vernon Dykes	26	Oakland	Shot in the back
June 15	Sammy Marshall		San Quentin	Pepper sprayed in prison
June 7	Joannie Holmes	35	Santa Rosa	Died in jail
June 7	Tartommie Bivens	27	Oakland	Shot
May 29	Shiloe Johnson	21	Napa	Shot in head at close range
May 2	Brenda Otto	49	CCWF	Died in prison
April 29	Kuan Chung Kao	33	Rohnert Park	Shot
April 14	Michael Stallworth		Stockton	Shot 23 times
April 11	Esteven Velez	31	Concord	Shot many times
March 1	Charles Williams	23	Oakland	Shot during traffic stop
Feb. 24	Corey Goodwin	36	Rohnert Park	Died in fire from tear gas
Feb. 15	Sol Hernandez	28	Santa Rosa	Shot
Jan. 5	Lisa Perez	33	CCWF	Died in prison
Jan. 3	Isan Frost	33	Santa Rosa	Drowned after chase

I received correspondence from a reader who contends these people deserved to die. Check out our dialogue at A Reader Says, "These people had it coming to them."

A coalition is forming on the North Coast to deal with police abuse. If you have information on cases or are interested in working on these issues, please contact me at kmsaari@wco.com.

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