The Other McCain

"One should either write ruthlessly what one believes to be the truth, or else shut up." — Arthur Koestler

Crazy People Are Dangerous

Posted on | September 4, 2020 | 2 Comments

 

If you want the phrase “died in a hail of police gunfire” to be included in your obituary, just follow the example of Megan Rivera, 22. She and her boyfriend, De’Angelo Brown, 30, were already wanted for criminal charges in South Carolina when they carjacked a Toyota from a 72-year-old woman less than two weeks before Christmas in 2018. Now, I don’t know about you, but anytime a criminal carjacks an old lady, I always hope their life of crime ends in a hail of police gunfire. In this case, the happy ending happened in West Memphis, Arkansas, on the night of Jan. 16, 2019, about a month after the carjacking. A police officer spotted the stolen Toyota and turned on his blue lights, then the car took off, beginning a high-speed chase that lasted more than 10 minutes.

By the time the Toyota was brought to a halt, about a dozen police cars had become involved in the chase. The cops piled out of their vehicles with guns drawn: “Hands up! Let me see your hands!” Megan Rivera was at the wheel, and in the passenger seat, De’Angelo Brown said: “Go! Go!” She hit the accelerator and the car lurched forward, running over one of the cops, which is why the criminal duo died in a hail of gunfire:

 

That’s top-quality entertainment, even though I spoiled it by giving away the ending. In the aftermath of this incident, the local news did an interview with Megan Rivera’s family:

Two families are coming to terms with the deaths of their loved ones hundreds of miles from home.
WMC5 investigators are learning more about the man and woman killed in a police shooting last week.
A disturbing picture is emerging of the couple shot and killed by West Memphis police.
Their families described the troubles and the torture they have gone through since the shooting.
“It didn’t hit me but when it did hit me it hit me hard,” said sister Gloria Campos.
Campos said the family only recently found out her sister Megan Rivera was the woman killed in West Memphis when police shot at the car she was driving with her boyfriend in the passenger seat, 30-year-old DeAngelo Brown.
Campos says her 22-year-old sister didn’t have her ID, so it took a few days to notify the family.
She said her sister had problems for much of her life. “When she was six years old her dad died of a drug overdose,” Campos said. “He almost took out the whole family. He went into a rage and we were almost all gone that night.”
Campos said Megan had been dating Brown for about three years. They met in their hometown of Lancaster, South Carolina.
She also said her sister had big problems with drugs. . . .
The family believes the couple got lost and that’s why they were in West Memphis, but they didn’t know exactly where they had been.
“She was out to venture,” said brother Kevin Rivera. “She was out to see the world.”

Let me just advise young people that if you are “out to see the world,” don’t do it in a stolen Toyota or you’re liable to get no further than West Memphis, Arkansas. As you can imagine, the family of Megan’s boyfriend was likewise distraught by their loss:

The family of the South Carolina man killed in an officer-involved shooting in West Memphis, Arkansas, is demanding justice and say they want answers. . . .
In a FaceTime interview Sunday, Brown’s sister, Tierra Clyburn, described what went through her mind when she got the news.
“Just hurt, anger, disbelief,” she said. “I just — I would never imagine something like this would happen.”
Brown’s brother, Lemarutius Clyburn, believes officers should have done something to de-escalate the situation.
“They could have took different steps then just opening up fire taking people’s lives when their officers didn’t lose their lives,” he said. . . .
“I just don’t understand how a traffic stop end with two people losing their life,” Lemarutius said.
And they want to know why police shot their brother even though they say he wasn’t even behind the wheel.
“Another way could have been used. They could have flattened the tires or something,” Tierra said. “Why just go killing them like that? My brother was just a passenger in the vehicle – he wasn’t even the driver. We want justice.”
They say the couple loved to take trips together and were in the Mid-South visiting.
“They was traveling, taking trips, just enjoying life,” Lemarutius said.

Just “traveling, taking trips” in a Toyota they stole from an old lady, and “enjoying life” until they died in a hail of police gunfire.

As for the family “demanding justice,” after a review of the case, it was announced that no charges would be filed against the police. The officer who got run over is recovering from his injuries.

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Speaking of injuries, my brother Kirby broke his right leg and ankle in a serious fall in June. He required surgery, and is still recuperating, so if readers could please hit Kirby’s tip jar, I’d be grateful.

Fun fact: My brother has never carjacked a Toyota.




 

Category: Crime

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2 Responses to “Crazy People Are Dangerous”

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