Snyder, letter, 1991-04-08, to Christopher; Barricaded man kills himself in Van Nuys, 1989-06-02 |
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•' ' April 8 , 1991 Mr . Warren Christopher Christopher Commission 400 South Hope Street - 15th Floor Los Angeles , Ca. 90071-2899 SUBJECT: LOS ANGELES POLICE DEPARTMENT BRUTALITY Dear Mr. Christopher : RECE:IVE:cAPR 11 1991 VY.,.c. 's OFFICE My brother , Gary Mark Snyder, was murdered on June 1, 1989 by the Los Angeles Police Department . He was 51 years old at the time . Gary has four children who were ages 22 to 29 then. My nieces and nephews have tried their best since then to get some justice (both crimi nal and civi l) but no one wanted to touch it . There was one lawyer who got money from them and supposedly filed cha~ges "just in time" , t·•.it has now disappear ed . I have his name and number and have left a message but he hasn ' t called back. The kids did get a probate lawyer to handle the probate. The only real asset was my brother ' s mortgaged house that the pol ice destroyed with their battering ram. I was unable to do anything at the time of my brother ' s death as I was totally t raumatized. We were very close. Then 6 days after his death on June 7, 1989 our mother suddenly died of a heart a t tack in an Iowa nurs i ng home . I was too much in shock to even go to her funeral . Less than a year after that my boyfriend since 1984 was diagnosed with Huntington ' s Disease, which is fatal . So , it has not been a good 2 years ! Now that I am emotionally stronger and the climate has changed as far as the general public being aware of how the LAPD really operates I would like to actively pursue seeing that my brother's death is avenged . POLICE VERSION VS. PROBABLE FACTS : (see attached L.A. Times article dtd 6/2/89) e1) "A Van Nuys man who fired several gunshots at Los Angeles police officers shot himself to death'' Was there a search warrant? Were there any witnesses (other than the police) that Gary fired shots out the window? I understand the three people who came out of his l1uuse w.:::r t: s l1ov t:J under mat~re:;ses at a :ieighbcr ' s ho!.!se . I i·•ill be cl:>J.e to gain contact with two of them, Billy Burt and Jill Croteau. If, in fact , Gary did fire shots was it after the police shot and killed his dog , Burt, who was outside in the fenced backyard? Gary really loved that dog . At some time during that night the police set a license plate against the dead dog that said "DOG GLUE" , laughed and took pictures . If the police wanted Gary out of his house so bad why didn ' t they contact a relative to talk him out like they do on T.V.? We have an independent autopsy report showing my brother was killed by a blunt object to the head and there was no bullet as claimed by the L.A. Coroner ' s Office . There was a stone statue of a bear in the house that had hair and blood on it. Either the police got in and hit Gary with it or their battering ram did . We have the evidence . The body was taken from the San Fernando Mortuary by the L. A. Coroner ' s Office and cremated in September 1989 - less than a month after they took it. Are'nt they supposed to wait 6 months? -· .. page 2 2) "After several calls from police for Snyder to surrender, officers shot tear gas into the house" Since there was no response from Gary before they knocked down the house with the battering ram isn't it possible he passed out from the tear gas and couldn ' t respond? 3) "Pol i ce found Nazi paraphernalia" 4) My b r other was in no way connected with any Nazi organization or any other organization. This was just a part of his warped sen se of humor and completely harmless. Ov er the years some of his best friends were Black and Hi s panic . Neighbors said : "neighborhood terror, Snyde r had several weapons, this guy was dangerous, that he had guns , unfriendly , heavily tatooed man whom they feared, took poor care of his property and rode loud motorcycles , allowed a friend t o park an old school bus on the street, they suspected him of throwing a beer bottle through a neighbor 1 s window and of painting t .he sidewalk in front of another neighbor ' s house, he was a real terror and people living on the block tried to stay away" Well , my brother was heavily tatooed, he did have a motorcycle and did take po o r care of his property . He took my father ' s shotgun when he died 6/88 and his deceas ed wife had owned a pistol. The other statements a r e merely prejudicial and unsubstantiated opinions . Are these reasons to kill him? Please read the enclosed p r ofile on my brother and contact me if you can help in any way. Sincerely, - ~-~ Judy Snyder P . O. Box 2369 Big Bear City, Ca . 92314 (714) 585-1 264 P . S. I am most definitely in favor of ousting Darryl Gates . I believe that he sets the climate for the LAPD . . e KENLU8AS I IMAngel .. TtDeteCtives confer on front lawn of home arter bat!ering ram was used. Below, vahicle backs "wRy from the o;u!'rect's house . Barricaded M&n Kills Himself in VanNuys By MICHAEL CONNELLY. TlmuSta/f Writn (,/·;;./f 7 A Van Nuys man who Clred several gunshots at Los Angeles pohoc omccrs shot himself lo death Thursday during a lengthy standoff that ended after the city's armored baucring ram d estroyed most or his house. The gunman. C;iry Snyder. 5 1, an unemployed I.Ow truck driver described by residents as a neighborhood "terror," was round dead about 6:30 a.m. in the rubble or his home. About three hours earlier. police drove the tank-like batlenng ram into lhe three-bedroom house several limes. leaving nll but one rear bedroom destroyed. Pohce said Snyder was found under debris in the hving room and appeared to have klUed himself w1lh a shotgun blast The shotgun and a handgun were found by his side. LL Warren Knowles said lhe lllC1den1 began about 8:45 p.m. Wednesday when a woman idenLified as Snyder's girlfriend , Tina Marie Rathje, 30. ran from his home screaming for help but was chased down by Snyder at a neighbor's house and forced back LO his house. 'l'he neighbors called polic<' but warned officers that Snyder had several weapons in his home. "They were I.Old lhal this guy was danger ous, lhal he had guns." Kno wles said. Rather lhan approach Snyder's front door. lhc officers used t heir patrol car's loudspeaker lo order ever yone out or his house. located on a cul-de-sac In the 7500 block or De Celis Place. Three people emerged. including house males WIUiam Burti. 4 1. Jill Croteau. 45, and Rathje, who had bruises on her race and stomach. They I.Old officers that Snyder was armed and refused to leave. The police Special Weapons and Tactics team was called lo the scene and nearby homes were evacuated while str eets were closed LO tramc. Arter several c:i lls from police for Snyder to surrender. omcers shot lcar gas into lhc house . Police said Snyder responded by firing about 10 shots from a side wmdow. No one was injured. Police said Snyder's shots "inlllated our decision LO bring out the ram," Know les said. ··snyder was :islted to come to the window and look al the ram." Knowles said. "He was told WO' intended to use ll If he did not come ouL" There was no response and nt 3 a.m. o fficers s tarted repeatedl y crashing the ram in to the house. " ll completely took oul lhc front or lhe house," saJd Mitch Luporr. a neighbor. "You could hear glass crashing and walls crumbling." Afterwards, officers searched the rubble for nearly three hours before finding Snyder's body. ln the one room left undamaged by the ram, police found Nazi paraphernalia. including swastika flags and slickers. Officers also round boxes in the back yard cont:unmg hundreds or spent cartridge casi ngs that Snyder apparently had collected. Some neighbors described Sny-dcr as an unfriendly. heavily tattooed man whom they reared. They said Snyder took poor care or his property and rode loud motorcycles. He reccnll)' u!)S('l neighbors by allowing a rncnd LO park an old school bus on the slrcct. Lupolf said he believed lhat some residents reared Snyder be· cause they suspected him or throwing a beer bottle through a ne1gh bor ·s window and or painllng the sidewalk in front or another neighbor's home after getting lnlo d1sP\ llCS wtth him. " He was a re:il tcrror. and people hving on the block tried to stay away," Lupolf !1aid. Times staff writer Nieson H im mel cont ributed to this story.
Object Description
Description
Title | Snyder, letter, 1991-04-08, to Christopher; Barricaded man kills himself in Van Nuys, 1989-06-02 |
Description | Judy Snyder, Big Bear City, California, letter, 1991 April 8, to Warren Christopher (Independent Commission on the Los Angeles Police Department), 400 South Hope Street, Los Angeles, California, re Los Angeles Police Department brutality. Michael Connelly "Barricaded man kills himself in Van Nuys" Los Angeles Times (1989 June 2). |
Geographic subject (roadway) | 400 South Hope Street; 1016 South Mansfield Avenue |
Geographic subject (city or populated place) | Los Angeles; Big Bear City |
Geographic subject (county) | Los Angeles; San Bernardino |
Geographic subject (state) | California |
Geographic subject (country) | USA |
Geographic coordinates | 34.051552,-118.255687 |
Coverage date | 1991-04-08 |
Creator |
Snyder, Judy Connelly, Michael |
Contributor |
Christopher, Warren, recipient Independent Commission on the Los Angeles Police Department, recipient |
Publisher (of the original version) | Los Angeles Times |
Place of publication (of the original version) | Los Angeles, California, USA |
Date created | 1991-04-08 |
Date issued | 1989-06-02 |
Type |
texts images |
Format | 3 p. |
Format (aat) |
correspondence clippings (information artifacts) |
Format (imt) | application/pdf |
Contributing entity | University of Southern California |
Series | Independent Commission File List |
File | Complaints, suggestions, and support |
Box and folder | box 23, folder 10, item 23 |
Physical access | Contact: Special Collections, Doheny Memorial Library, Libraries, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA 90089-0189; specol@dots.usc.edu |
Full text | •' ' April 8 , 1991 Mr . Warren Christopher Christopher Commission 400 South Hope Street - 15th Floor Los Angeles , Ca. 90071-2899 SUBJECT: LOS ANGELES POLICE DEPARTMENT BRUTALITY Dear Mr. Christopher : RECE:IVE:cAPR 11 1991 VY.,.c. 's OFFICE My brother , Gary Mark Snyder, was murdered on June 1, 1989 by the Los Angeles Police Department . He was 51 years old at the time . Gary has four children who were ages 22 to 29 then. My nieces and nephews have tried their best since then to get some justice (both crimi nal and civi l) but no one wanted to touch it . There was one lawyer who got money from them and supposedly filed cha~ges "just in time" , t·•.it has now disappear ed . I have his name and number and have left a message but he hasn ' t called back. The kids did get a probate lawyer to handle the probate. The only real asset was my brother ' s mortgaged house that the pol ice destroyed with their battering ram. I was unable to do anything at the time of my brother ' s death as I was totally t raumatized. We were very close. Then 6 days after his death on June 7, 1989 our mother suddenly died of a heart a t tack in an Iowa nurs i ng home . I was too much in shock to even go to her funeral . Less than a year after that my boyfriend since 1984 was diagnosed with Huntington ' s Disease, which is fatal . So , it has not been a good 2 years ! Now that I am emotionally stronger and the climate has changed as far as the general public being aware of how the LAPD really operates I would like to actively pursue seeing that my brother's death is avenged . POLICE VERSION VS. PROBABLE FACTS : (see attached L.A. Times article dtd 6/2/89) e1) "A Van Nuys man who fired several gunshots at Los Angeles police officers shot himself to death'' Was there a search warrant? Were there any witnesses (other than the police) that Gary fired shots out the window? I understand the three people who came out of his l1uuse w.:::r t: s l1ov t:J under mat~re:;ses at a :ieighbcr ' s ho!.!se . I i·•ill be cl:>J.e to gain contact with two of them, Billy Burt and Jill Croteau. If, in fact , Gary did fire shots was it after the police shot and killed his dog , Burt, who was outside in the fenced backyard? Gary really loved that dog . At some time during that night the police set a license plate against the dead dog that said "DOG GLUE" , laughed and took pictures . If the police wanted Gary out of his house so bad why didn ' t they contact a relative to talk him out like they do on T.V.? We have an independent autopsy report showing my brother was killed by a blunt object to the head and there was no bullet as claimed by the L.A. Coroner ' s Office . There was a stone statue of a bear in the house that had hair and blood on it. Either the police got in and hit Gary with it or their battering ram did . We have the evidence . The body was taken from the San Fernando Mortuary by the L. A. Coroner ' s Office and cremated in September 1989 - less than a month after they took it. Are'nt they supposed to wait 6 months? -· .. page 2 2) "After several calls from police for Snyder to surrender, officers shot tear gas into the house" Since there was no response from Gary before they knocked down the house with the battering ram isn't it possible he passed out from the tear gas and couldn ' t respond? 3) "Pol i ce found Nazi paraphernalia" 4) My b r other was in no way connected with any Nazi organization or any other organization. This was just a part of his warped sen se of humor and completely harmless. Ov er the years some of his best friends were Black and Hi s panic . Neighbors said : "neighborhood terror, Snyde r had several weapons, this guy was dangerous, that he had guns , unfriendly , heavily tatooed man whom they feared, took poor care of his property and rode loud motorcycles , allowed a friend t o park an old school bus on the street, they suspected him of throwing a beer bottle through a neighbor 1 s window and of painting t .he sidewalk in front of another neighbor ' s house, he was a real terror and people living on the block tried to stay away" Well , my brother was heavily tatooed, he did have a motorcycle and did take po o r care of his property . He took my father ' s shotgun when he died 6/88 and his deceas ed wife had owned a pistol. The other statements a r e merely prejudicial and unsubstantiated opinions . Are these reasons to kill him? Please read the enclosed p r ofile on my brother and contact me if you can help in any way. Sincerely, - ~-~ Judy Snyder P . O. Box 2369 Big Bear City, Ca . 92314 (714) 585-1 264 P . S. I am most definitely in favor of ousting Darryl Gates . I believe that he sets the climate for the LAPD . . e KENLU8AS I IMAngel .. TtDeteCtives confer on front lawn of home arter bat!ering ram was used. Below, vahicle backs "wRy from the o;u!'rect's house . Barricaded M&n Kills Himself in VanNuys By MICHAEL CONNELLY. TlmuSta/f Writn (,/·;;./f 7 A Van Nuys man who Clred several gunshots at Los Angeles pohoc omccrs shot himself lo death Thursday during a lengthy standoff that ended after the city's armored baucring ram d estroyed most or his house. The gunman. C;iry Snyder. 5 1, an unemployed I.Ow truck driver described by residents as a neighborhood "terror," was round dead about 6:30 a.m. in the rubble or his home. About three hours earlier. police drove the tank-like batlenng ram into lhe three-bedroom house several limes. leaving nll but one rear bedroom destroyed. Pohce said Snyder was found under debris in the hving room and appeared to have klUed himself w1lh a shotgun blast The shotgun and a handgun were found by his side. LL Warren Knowles said lhe lllC1den1 began about 8:45 p.m. Wednesday when a woman idenLified as Snyder's girlfriend , Tina Marie Rathje, 30. ran from his home screaming for help but was chased down by Snyder at a neighbor's house and forced back LO his house. 'l'he neighbors called polic<' but warned officers that Snyder had several weapons in his home. "They were I.Old lhal this guy was danger ous, lhal he had guns." Kno wles said. Rather lhan approach Snyder's front door. lhc officers used t heir patrol car's loudspeaker lo order ever yone out or his house. located on a cul-de-sac In the 7500 block or De Celis Place. Three people emerged. including house males WIUiam Burti. 4 1. Jill Croteau. 45, and Rathje, who had bruises on her race and stomach. They I.Old officers that Snyder was armed and refused to leave. The police Special Weapons and Tactics team was called lo the scene and nearby homes were evacuated while str eets were closed LO tramc. Arter several c:i lls from police for Snyder to surrender. omcers shot lcar gas into lhc house . Police said Snyder responded by firing about 10 shots from a side wmdow. No one was injured. Police said Snyder's shots "inlllated our decision LO bring out the ram," Know les said. ··snyder was :islted to come to the window and look al the ram." Knowles said. "He was told WO' intended to use ll If he did not come ouL" There was no response and nt 3 a.m. o fficers s tarted repeatedl y crashing the ram in to the house. " ll completely took oul lhc front or lhe house," saJd Mitch Luporr. a neighbor. "You could hear glass crashing and walls crumbling." Afterwards, officers searched the rubble for nearly three hours before finding Snyder's body. ln the one room left undamaged by the ram, police found Nazi paraphernalia. including swastika flags and slickers. Officers also round boxes in the back yard cont:unmg hundreds or spent cartridge casi ngs that Snyder apparently had collected. Some neighbors described Sny-dcr as an unfriendly. heavily tattooed man whom they reared. They said Snyder took poor care or his property and rode loud motorcycles. He reccnll)' u!)S('l neighbors by allowing a rncnd LO park an old school bus on the slrcct. Lupolf said he believed lhat some residents reared Snyder be· cause they suspected him or throwing a beer bottle through a ne1gh bor ·s window and or painllng the sidewalk in front or another neighbor's home after getting lnlo d1sP\ llCS wtth him. " He was a re:il tcrror. and people hving on the block tried to stay away," Lupolf !1aid. Times staff writer Nieson H im mel cont ributed to this story. |
Filename | indep-box23-10-23.pdf |
Archival file | Volume73/indep-box23-10-23.pdf |