Still image from Orange County Sheriff's Department helicopter camera showing Santa Ana officers and suspect on Newport Beach Pier.Screen Shot from Santa Ana PD
he Santa Ana Police Department of Orange County, California, has released video of a Feb. 1, 2025, vehicle pursuit that ended in a fatal officer-involved shooting on the Newport Beach Pier.
Santa Ana PD says the incident began at 6:10 a.m. when it received a request for assistance from the Menifee Police Department in neighboring Riverside County. The Menifee PD had tracked a homicide suspect’s cellphone to a residence in Santa Ana.
At 6:36 a.m. two Santa Ana officers went to the home and spotted a person in a vehicle. When they approached the vehicle, it drove away.
The officers followed and a pursuit began. The pursuit wound through several Orange County towns and on the freeway, Santa Ana Police say. It ended on the Newport Beach Pier.
The suspect drove his vehicle onto the pier, which is a no drive zone. Police vehicles followed him to the end of the pier and parked.
Officers got out of their patrol SUV and a gunfight erupted. The suspect was mortally wounded.
Video from an Orange County Sheriff’s Department helicopter shows the suspect down with a handgun on his body. He was pronounced dead at the scene by Newport Beach firefighters.
The deceased suspect has been identified as 45-year-old Jose Alfonso Velasquez.
No officers or civilians were injured on the pier.
