Man shot, killed by police on 101 FreewayFree Access

Stunned motorists look on



TENSE MOMENT—Officers with the Ventura County Sheriff’s Office and California Highway Patrol open fire on a man around 12:30 this afternoon on the southbound 101 Freeway in Calabasas. The unidentified man had crashed his vehicle an hour prior following a pursuit that began in Camarillo. He refused to submit to arrest. MICHAEL COONS/Acorn Newspapers

A pursuit that began Saturday morning in Camarillo with a domestic violence call ended around 12:30 p.m. in Calabasas with a crash and a fatal officer-involved shooting on the southbound 101 Freeway just before the Las Virgenes Road/Malibu Canyon exit.

The driver of the fleeing vehicle is shown in a photograph taken by the Acorn lunging out from behind his crashed Chrysler 300S with an object in his hand. The shooting involved one Ventura County sheriff’s deputy and one California Highway Patrol officer, officials said.

STANDOFF—Deputies to the left and the driver and his crashed vehicle to the right, moments before he is killed. Courtesy of Brenda Cohen

The Los Angeles County Coroner later identified the man as Dimas Diaz Jr., 43, a resident of Santa Barbara. He was pronounced dead at the scene.

Diaz was driving a stolen vehicle, officials said, and had a felony parole warrant for his arrest.

Sgt. Eric Buschow of the Ventura County Sheriff’s Office said the pursuit started after deputies responded to a domestic violence call in the city of Camarillo. The chase continued through Oxnard and onto the southbound 101, where CHP joined the pursuit at Borchard Road in Newbury Park.

Brenda Cohen of Agoura Hills was driving with her mother and daughter to a family event on the 101 when CHP shut down the freeway after the driver crashed into a guardrail underneath the Las Virgenes Road exit sign around 11:30 a.m.

She was at the front of the traffic jam with law enforcement between herself and the crashed car. The shooting began after a 50-minute standoff between officers and the man, who refused to exit his vehicle at first and then got out and stood behind it.

“I could mostly only see his face. Then suddenly there was a shootout. There was shooting and he was dead,” Cohen said. “We had to lower our seats. We were ducked down because we were in the front car. If there was a stray bullet it could have come our way.”

SUSPECT—The man peers over the top of his car prior to police opening fire. Courtesy of Brenda Cohen

Both sides of the 101 were closed for nearly two hours before CHP decided to reopen northbound lanes. Southbound lanes remained closed for several more hours.

An investigation into the shooting continues.

This story was updated at 9:52 a.m. Jan. 13, 2019.

This story was updated at 5:13 p.m. Jan. 14, 2019.