An Oxnard police officer who ran over and killed a female sunbather while on beach patrol in an SUV will not face criminal charges, though the accident is a "great tragedy," the Ventura County district attorney's office said Wednesday.
Senior Officer Frank Brisslinger drove a Chevy Tahoe directly over Cindy Conolly, 49, as she lay on Mandalay Beach last June. But prosecutors cannot prove that he was driving negligently at the time of the incident, according to a 54-page report released by Dist. Atty. Gregory Totten.
For The Record
Los Angeles Times Friday January 26, 2007 Home Edition Main News Part A Page 2 National Desk 1 inches; 66 words Type of Material: Correction
Sunbather's death: An article in Thursday's California section about a sunbather who was accidentally run over by a police beach patrol vehicle in Oxnard last June incorrectly described the position of the victim, Cindy Conolly. The article stated that Conolly was lying parallel to a berm when she was struck by the vehicle. She was lying perpendicular to the berm, with her feet toward the ocean.
Mark Hiepler, an attorney for Conolly's family, said the report makes clear that her death was caused by "Oxnard's gross negligence." He has filed a $10-million civil lawsuit against the city on behalf of Conolly's children, who live in Minnesota.
The city's attorney, Alan Wisotsky, could not be reached for comment. But he has said the city has claimed responsibility for the accident and is eager to settle with the family.
The district attorney's office focused on two main elements in making its decision. Investigators found that Brisslinger didn't see the slight berm, or Conolly lying parallel to it, as he made a routine beach patrol with his partner, Officer Martin Polo.
Also, the Oxnard Police Department had never trained Brisslinger, or other officers, in how to safely navigate vehicles while on the beach.
At the time of the accident, the department had no such guidelines or policies in place, the report said.
catherine.saillant@latimes.com
