Officials said Tuesday that the man whose fatal shooting by police on Los Angeles’ Skid Row had been caught on video was a convicted bank robber using a stolen identity.
The Associated Press reported that an anonymous law enforcement official identified the man as Charley Saturmin Robinet, 39. Robinet was convicted in 2000 of robbing a Wells Fargo bank branch and “pistol-whipping an employee in an effort to pay for acting classes at the Beverly Hills Playhouse,” according to the AP. He went on to serve roughly 13 years in prison.
Authorities initially prepared to deport Robinet following that conviction. French officials then discovered that the man had actually stolen his identity from a French national and notified U.S. authorities that Robinet was an impostor, consul general Axel Cruau told the Los Angeles Times.
The man’s true identity is still unclear.
Witnesses to the shooting identified the man by his street name, “Africa.” Representatives from the Union Rescue Mission on Skid Row told the AP that he had been living on the sidewalk outside their shelter for six to eight months.
Documents obtained by the AP show that the man known as Robinet also struggled with mental health issues while behind bars. Federal officials and medical staff determined the man required treatment at a psychiatric hospital for “a mental disease or defect,” according to the documents.
The fatal shooting rose to national attention Sunday night when a bystander posted video to Facebook of the confrontation between the man and LAPD officers on a Skid Row sidewalk. The video was later taken down.
While it’s not entirely clear what happened during the confrontation from the original video, authorities have said the man was killed in a struggle for an LAPD officer’s weapon.
Oh, I didn’t realize he was convicted of a felony and served his time. Clearly on this basis alone he deserved to die. Fill him full of holes. Thanks for letting us know this LAPD. Douches.
Yes, certainly a bank robber who pistol-whipped someone during his robbery couldn’t possibly be any danger to anyone. And I’m sure he never would have tried to grab one of the cop’s guns.
Be careful who you choose as the poster child for “all police shootings are murder.”
It’s the Michael Brown excuse. That’s enough for the ignorant white supremacist Christo-fascists who believe all people of color are thugs.
Who is making a pre-judgement here???
The captain of a local university’s football team was dismissed from a larger school for pistol-whipping his robbery victim, and they had no problem offering him a football scholarship. Are you saying he’s a danger to the community? Because if he is, why, we should contact the local police immediately and have him executed.
The question is not whether this individual has a criminal past, rather, whether the man was a danger to the police officers. And of course, because “no police shootings are murder” whatever they say, goes. Never mind that the police are supposed to be trained professionals that we entrust with the use of deadly force, dealing with a public that fears them and as in this case, may have mental health issues, and certainly has no such training in conflict deescalation.
Be careful who you choose as a poster child as well.