Absinthe & Cookies (a bit bitter, a bit sweet)

Ride-along teen: 'Man down!'

The voice on officer May's squad car radio was unfamiliar at first. It wasn't Richard May's; he had just radioed headquarters minutes earlier to say he was trailing a suspect from a fight at a nearby taqueria.

The voice was that of a kid, no older than a teenager.

``Man down!'' the voice said, a bit high, but firm. ``Man down!''

It took another instant for East Palo Alto police Sgt. Alma Zamora, the watch commander in charge late Saturday afternoon, to recognize the voice. It was that of a 16-year-old Boy Scout Explorer, who was out for a ride-along with May.

And then Zamora realized -- the boy was sitting in the front seat of May's squad car with a gunman on the loose.

``At that point, we couldn't get there fast enough,'' Zamora said in an interview Tuesday.

Zamora jumped in her patrol car and sped just one block away to University Avenue and Weeks Street. As she rounded the corner, she caught a glimpse of the boy, tall and thin, talking to a policeman who had responded to the scene.

``It was almost a relief,'' she said, ``until I saw the officer.''

May, 38, a mentor in the Explorers program , lay lifeless on the pavement. He had been shot at least twice, including once in the head, police said. The crime was caught on tape from a security camera at a nearby building.

The suspect, 22-year-old Alberto Alvarez, was caught early Sunday morning. He had a gunshot wound to the leg. He was arraigned Tuesday on a murder charge.

Police won't identify the boy, who they worry could be in danger from the suspect's fellow gang members. He is a key witness

The rest of the story here.

Posted by Ithildin at January 11, 2006 12:20 PM | PROCURE FINE OLD WORLD ABSINTHE