Sutter County Deputies Shoot, Kill 72-Year-Old Man

July 5, 2011 6:54 AM

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SUTTER COUNTY (CBS13) – A Sutter County man is dead after being shot by deputies on Monday night after he allegedly tried to ram them with his car.

The shooting happened around 10 p.m. in the 900 block of Mesa Verde in Yuba City. Sutter County Sheriff’s deputies responded after getting calls reporting a person driving recklessly.

Witnesses say 72-year-old Jagtar Singh Kang was driving erratically up and down the street even swerving at people.

A deputy arrived and was talking with a witness when he spotted Kang driving toward him, according to Undersheriff Jeff Pierce.

Pierce says the deputy fired several shots at Kang after he ignored orders to stop. Kang was transported to a hospital but later pronounced dead.

There are reports that Kang may have been upset over fireworks being set-off in the neighborhood.

“People were shooting off illegal fireworks and he was upset,” a neighbor who did not want to be identified told CBS13. “Every Fourth of July he’d get angry at people shooting off fireworks especially the illegal ones.”

Evidence markers litter the street where Kang was shot, several next to burned out illegal fireworks like bottle rockets.

The deputy is on paid administrative leave while the shooting is being investigated.

Authorities are waiting on toxicology tests to determine if Kang was under the influence of alcohol or drugs.

Neighbors say this isn’t the first time Kang has had arguments with neighbors over the illegal fireworks. But this is the first time the arguments turned physical.

Sutter County Deputies Shoot, Kill 72 Year Old Man

Cherie Crane

I live in Yuba City and I want you to know that at mignight last night this town sounded like a war zone. I was upset by all of the illegal fire works but the police apparently weren’t even responding. The police in this town need to pay more attention to the honestly bad things going on, I firmly believe the police here have too much power and they are most definately the most over paid over zealous police force in Northern California.

Hate whiners

You can make those comments once you’ve been a police officer and driven the streets of this or any other town in the middle of the night or on a holiday…alone. Overpaid? Are you kidding? What kind of a salary do you think is suitable for someone who spends six months going through an academy so they can drive through a town of ungrateful, overly critical people who know absolutely nothing about the job? Did you personally check each and everyone of the residences shooting off fireworks at midnight and determine they were illegal…or did you just hear lots of noise and make the assumption? Not responding? Maybe that’s because there aren’t enough of them to keep people like you and I safe. Would you like to have your own personal officer? Try being over worked and expected to meet the expectations of people like you and see how stressed you get. You might find yourself responding much the same way to these kinds of situations.

Mike

Hey why the hell r u whining? Change ur stupid name weiner. Nobody asked the cops to apply for the job, they did it on their own because everyone knows they get a good salary and good benefits. A rookie police officer makes $5500 a month plus pension & benefits. If cops think they’re underpaid…..then they can quit any day rite?

some dude

No reason to shoot an old man who was upset over loud, disgusting, annoying, stinky fireworks. Guy was just letting of steam. Policeman are not like they used to be, havent they heard of road blocks, spike strips, etc.? No apparently not.
some guy

Disgusting action taken by the Sheriff!
Tim Johnsen

This is not acceptable cop shooting an old man who was trying to safeguard his house from illegal firework by the neighbourers. There should be strict possible action against people who were playing with illegal firework pointing towards his house. Let’s hope for positive outcome after criminal investigation and hope to see those people in jail who broke the law.
Gerard Sullivan

I feel bad for this 72 yrs old man who lost his life trying to guard his house from fire. Firework pieces on top of his house roof are the evidences and all those involved in the illegal firework should be booked asap. This person has no criminal history, he looks like a law abiding citizen, he must be angry as rockets are landing on top of his roof which could have caused fire. Please arrest those people soon who were involved in illegal firework intentionally trying to destroy neighbourhood houses.
Gina P

I read that the deputy fired 6 shots at this poor old man. Six shots??? Are you kidding me? There is something very wrong with this and is not acceptable.It is a bit of an over reaction. He could have shot his tires out instead of killing a poor old man over something that could have been resolved differnetly. I hope that cop is not allowed back to work. Its is wrong what he did and I feel terrible for the loss of his life. Illegal fireworks are very dangerous and he had good reason to be upset. The peole in his neighborhood were not only putting their houses and families at risk but the houses and families of ther neighbors as well. 97% of house fires that Happen on the fourth are from illegal fireworks. So this poor man gets shot to death but what happened to the neighbors who were doing illegal fireworks? Key word being illegal. It seems like an unfortunate incident where tempers got out of hand and should have been resolved more peacefully or with an arrest..not a death. I feel it is a mssive fail on the officers part. Again 6 shots? Not necessary. I am disguted. I agree with the first poster there a bigger problems in YC that the police need to be focusing on not shooting and calling an old mad over him being upset with illegal fireworks. He has lived there for over 30 years. I plan on calling the police department expressing my outrage and I hope his family sues.

Steve

You READ that 6 shots were fired or you read that the “poor old man” was hit 6 times? There’s a difference. You try shooting a car driving right at you and see if it stops for you. You have to hit the driver. That’s why so many shots were fired at him. In a situation that requires split second decision-making capabilities, you tell me what you would have done genius. Everybody seems to have all the greatest answers after the fact. You also cannot shoot at tires you cannot see. If you want to mention key words like illegal, let’s talk about how illegal it is to point your car at another human being and press on the gas. They call that assault in a court of law! Learn how to spell..

Mike

Hey idiot where in this story does it say that this old man was driving right at the police officer? Don’t you think he would of killed or injured at least 1 person before the officer showed up if his plan was to run people over? Cops nowdays are nasty, disgusting animals. there’s no justification for the officer to kill this man!!

manny

Thank you for your post, believe it there will be a law suit. This officer is a rookie, a gun happy and it showed. This killing will set a example for any other officer attempting to shoot first without making other options. Their was plently of room on this mesa verde street for the officer to move aside to blow out the tires. The sutter county sheriff dept needs to stop hiring rookies without experience and hiring plenty decent officers who’ve been laid off other communities.This east indian community is outraged and it has reached globally to other east indian communities.

Gina P

I too want to know what happened to the people using illegal fireworks. Were they arressted? This is an outrage. Their were firework pieces on his roof putting him and his family in danger. On the news I saw the mexican teenager neighbor that was part of the crowd using illegal fireworks and talking about what happened and he was laughing. A man died because of him and his careless friends and he had zero remorse and did not seem to care or feel bad. Just disgusting! If I argued with my neighbor and he was shot and killed I would be sick about and feel terrible about it.

Steve

The same thing happened to them that happened to the people on the next street over and two blocks from there and on practically every street in California! They were not given the same priority as the people with guns robbing 7-Elevens and breaking into your grandmother’s house or raping high school girls out after curfew because their parents were at home writing stupid comments about our thinned out, overworked, in fear of losing their jobs police force. …and by the way, the dear, sweet, old man didn’t die because of the kid. He died because he made the choice to get into his car, drive up and down the street trying to hit citizens and police officers. You’re suffering from a little misplaced rage my friend. Get a grip!

Cherie

Gina P. – I am hoping that the people of Yuba City do more than just complain about our police. It was the sherrif dept. and remember only a few months ago a police officer was in hot pursuit of a person that stole a 40 dollar dvd player from walmart and ended up going through someone’s home when he lost control of his patrol car going over 90 miles an hour down Walton. What the heck is going on within our law enforcement community that this behavior is permitted and condoned.
Gina P

Cherie I have called the Sherrifs department to express my disgust and they recomended that I go to the local Chamber and to elected official and express concerns of having better patrols and more officers on the street. With all the cuts the community is suffering and I do not feel safe. I agree with Cherie 100% when she says what is going on. I have lived in Yuba City for 34 years and never felt there was a problem with law enforcement but that is not the case today. They seem like a highly untrained force that seem to be doing more harm than good these days. I encourage everyone to voice their concerns so change can be made and we can actually feel protected not targeted by our law enforcement. Contact the DA, the newspaper , the news. Express ur concern with these cuts and what happens when their are not enough good men and women protecting our streets. By the way nothing was done to those using illegal fireworks. Not even a slap on the wrist. That is just wrong.
tired of ignorance

You people feeling sorry for this man are stupid. You complain that the police should focus on the real crimes in our town? Like what? People celebrating the independence of our nation by shooting off some illegal fireworks. Maybe they should do what they are paid for like…oh I don’t know…stopping lunatics who don’t understand our American holidays and want to run citizens over AND police officers while driving crazy through neighborhood streets. Trying to run anyone over with a car is assault, plain and simple. That’s where the BIG crime was that night. This man had the option many years ago when he started this annual tantrum to move somewhere where people don’t and can’t celebrate the independence of a nation. He didn’t. Now he’s dead as a result of his own stupidity and you want to feel sorry for him. 6 shots? Yes, too much but what would any of you do if someone was headed straight at you with a car? Wake up and stop blaming people who are happy being free. It’s what we’ve spent 200 + years fighting for and protecting. Stinking idiots.

BB

Are you kidding me first of all if you are going to state something so stupid make sure that you have the facts straight. The guy was shot innocently. And oh yeah he was a freaking citizen and he knew his rights.
Mike

Hey idiot where in this story does it say that this old man was “headed straight” at the police officer? Don’t you think he would of killed or injured at least 1 person before the officer showed up if his plan was to run people over? Cops nowdays are nasty, disgusting animals, there’s no justification for the officer to kill this man!!

Gina P

For someone who is “tired of ignorance” you sure do show quite a bit of ignorance when you say “Don’t understand OUR American holidays. What is that supposed to mean? I am pretty sure he too was American even if he was not white. I grew up in the same neighborhood as him. I did now him personally but I did know of him. He has lived there for 30plus years and was a decent person. Why should have to move if his neighbors are doing illegal fireworks? How about respecting your neighbors wishes and taking your illegal fireworks elsewhere. I doubt he would have been as upset if they were regular safe and sane fireworks. His house and family were being put in danger due to the neglect and thoughtlessness of others. This isn’t a bashing of who’s right and wrong here and I do not agree that what he did behind the wheel of the car was not the best way to handle it either. I don’t agree with him trying to mow down people in his car but it sounded like he just snapped after numerous attempts of him getting his neighbors to stop..and they did not. We all have a had a moment where we just snap. I’m just sad that someone had to be killed over something as lame as Fireworks. Its just sad. I wish neighbors could respect each other better. If your neighbor has voiced concern and anger over ur use of illegal fireworks than don’t do them cuz they too are being put in harms way. Growing up Yuba City was nothing like it is today. There just seems to be so much more crime and violence. Again I’m not trying to attack anyone more just upset someone had to die over something so dumb. Maybe if his neighbors respected his wishes and did not do the illegal fireworks and did safe ones none of this would have happened. There was a teenage boy interviewed on the news and he did not even seem rattled or upset their was a loss of life no matter what the situation was. In fact he even laughed when telling the story. That’s just sick and was upsetting. Its not right. Anyway I feel bad for his family and wish stuff like this didn’t have to happen in the first place. I think this guy was driven to the edge after trying numerous times the right way.
bb

The police is disgusting to do that.I think the family should file a case against the police. Sorry for the family’s lost.
Holly86

Maybe all of you ESP Gina p should get your facts straight if you don’t know what really happened. Do you know that he personally went and asked the neighbors to stop? No. He could’ve easily called the cops on his neighbors but obviously chose the wrong way and tried to run the whole neighborhood and cop after he repeatedly was told to stop. Nobody pushed his car it was his own decision. Funny how people choose to open their mouthes when they obviously know nothing when they weren’t there. Yes it was a sad ordeal but different choices could’ve been made by both parties including kang

fp

Maybe you don’t know the real facts get them before posting. He’s made several attempts through the proper authorities to have these kids over the past years stop harassing him. Maybe it wasn’t your relative who was killed.

bb

maybe u should get your facts straight because u don’t know what happen to the poor guy and i agree with fp.
Holly86

Did you not hear me say it was a sad ordeal? All I’m saying that nobody really knows what happens not even me so everyone needs to stop being so judgmental and leave it alone. I feel for his family but people need to stop taking sides becuz u nor I were there
bb

This is America everyone is freaking judgmental. And we do know what happen because we got a statement from his wife so if you don’t know your facts don’t spill out garbage.
Holly86

So you were there too then and know everything that happened? And I’m guessing you’re taking the wife’s side just becuz she gave a statement? Reeeal cool dude
bb

yeah it is real cool i mean atleast i have more information about this than you do thats for sure heck what do you do read the paper and believe everything they say like the typical idiot in corporate society who doesnt questions the facts that stare you in the face. First of all why is the person who shot this so called crazy driver suspended or on leave ehh.
Hol

How in the world do u have more information then everyone else does? Ur obviously related to the man becuz ur defending that family so much. How bout u explain to all us idiots what u know since u apparently were there!!!!!!!