Original Article Mesa officer kills suspected beer thief 2nd man wounded; beer theft spurs pursuit Senta Scarborough The Arizona Republic Nov. 9, 2004 12:00 AM A police officer fearing for another officer's safety shot two suspected beer thieves Monday, wounding one and killing the other. It was the second fatal officer-involved shooting in Mesa, and the third in the East Valley, in a week. Around 12:54 p.m., Officers Jerald Ray and Brandon Monnens saw two suspected beer thieves flee a grocery store in the 300 block of East Brown Road and drive off in a green Dodge Stratus, spokesman Detective Tim Gaffney said. The officers caught up to the car, attempted to stop it, and the car swerved and skidded to a stop in a cul-de-sac in the 600 block of East Brown Road between Mesa Drive and Horne. Another officer, John Dankanich, arrived and got out of his patrol car. The officers yelled for the driver to stop, and Ray approached the vehicle, which was still running, from the passenger side. "The subject was given verbal commands to stop and didn't comply," Gaffney said. "Officer Ray feared for Officer Dankanich's safety because of the motion of the vehicle, the driver's movements and the sound of the revving engine from the vehicle." Ray fired at the driver, 18-year-old Oscar Bobby Grey, a Salt River Reservation resident, hitting him in the arm. A second shot struck the front-seat passenger, Kevin Olivas, 21, also a Salt River resident, in the head, killing him. Patrick Lee James, 37, of Mesa, and his 5-year-old son, who was in the back seat of the car, and the three officers were not injured. Police found cases of beer in the car, Gaffney said. Susie Fry, 39, was cleaning her house not far from the shooting and heard gunfire. "I heard two to three shots and opened the front door and I heard tires squealing," she said. "It was a little scary." A few minutes later, she went back outside and saw a man in handcuffs being escorted by police and a man lying on the ground. "I saw some blood, and he didn't appear to be moving," said Fry, who has lived in the neighborhood for 10 years. "We have a lot of problems near here. It is kind of a joke - if we don't hear a police helicopter going over the canal, then something's wrong." James was arrested on an outstanding felony probation warrant. His son was returned to his mother. Grey, who was treated at a hospital and released, was booked on suspicion of aggravated assault and theft, Gaffney said. All three officers will be placed on routine three-day paid administrative leave. This is Mesa's fourth fatal officer-involved shooting this year; there were two last year.