The dashboard camera of Officer Bonaminio's car captured this image of the suspect. He is in his mid-30s to mid-40s, 6-foot-1 or 6-foot-2. If you have information, contact Detective Ron Sanfilippo at 951-353-7105 or Detective Greg Rowe at 951-353-7130.
A 27-year-old Riverside police officer who served two Army tours in Iraq was shot to death near the entrance of Fairmount Park on Sunday night while running after a man who had been fleeing a hit-and-run accident in a stolen truck.
The slaying of Officer Ryan Bonaminio, who grew up in Riverside, set the department's entire detective bureau of about 60 investigators to work on the case or on standby to help. The park entrance from Market Street was closed much of Monday as dozens of police inspected the crime scene.
"It's a tragedy," said Riverside Councilman Mike Gardner, whose ward includes Fairmount Park, northwest of downtown. "An officer who was a military veteran -- he served in the Army -- has lost his life trying to protect the rest of us."
There had been no arrests by evening, but a camera on the dashboard of Bonaminio's patrol car captured an image of the man suspected of killing him.
Police issued a photo and description of the possible suspect late in the day. He was described as a black male in his mid-30s to mid-40s, 6-foot-1 to 6-foot-2 with a slender build and possible facial hair.
He was last seen wearing dark clothing and a light-colored baseball cap. Police said he is believed to be armed with a handgun and should be considered dangerous.
The dashboard camera caught the man emerging from the truck and later running back to it, Riverside Police Chief Sergio Diaz said.
"His friends know who he is. People who know him will know who he is," Diaz said of the man in the photo.
Diaz said the yellow big-rig cab, the kind used to tow trailers for long-haul transport, had been stolen earlier Sunday from a nearby Penske rental outlet. It had no attached trailer.
After the shooting it apparently was driven back to the Penske outlet and abandoned, he said. Police found it about 10:30 p.m. Sunday.
A Riverside K-9 officer searches a field on the east side of Market Street near Fairmount Park near where a Riverside police officer was shot Sunday night. Police say the officer was shot as he chased a man driving a stolen big-rig cab who was fleeing the scene of a hit-and-run accident. (David Bauman/The Press-Enterprise)
Bonaminio was a four-year veteran of the Riverside Police Department who had served in Iraq as a military policeman. He graduated from Ramona High School in 2000, where he excelled in the Jr. ROTC program.
He would have been 28 on Thanksgiving.
Riverside officers wore black bands around their badges and Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger ordered flags in the state Capitol flown at half-staff. Bonaminio was the 15th Riverside police officer in the department's history to die while on duty.
Throughout Monday morning, officers stationed along Market Street and on Fairmount Boulevard just outside the park turned away a steady stream of drivers trying to get through. Several patrol and unmarked cars were at the park's entrance.
Around 9 a.m., citizen volunteers with metal detectors stood by to help search the scene. When police gave the word, the volunteers, more than a dozen officers and two canine units combed both sides of Market Street north from the main entrance to Fairmount Park.
Bonaminio's death underscored the message that even the most routine call can turn deadly, said Sgt. Cliff Mason, a 23-year Riverside police officer and president of the officers' union.
"This job is unique. People get murdered in this profession," Mason said. "This is a young kid who had a whole life ahead of him. And now ... his colleagues are going to have to go out there tonight and put their emotions on the shelf and do their job. To have your friend murdered is just a horrible feeling. I can't put it into words."
'CLOSE TO PERFECT'
Bonaminio was focused on a law enforcement career while at Ramona High School, said his former Jr. ROTC instructor, retired Marine Sgt. Maj. Henry David.
David recalled Bonaminio as a quiet, shy ninth-grader who shouldered an M-14 rifle that "was about as big as he was."
"When he came in, he was little," David recalled. "He grew. He went right up."
Bonaminio developed leadership skills and earned several promotions and awards, his teacher said. He was a good runner with good grades and was well liked by everyone, David said.
John Dunlavey, a neighbor of the Bonaminios, said he had known Ryan since he was born. He was "close to perfect," Dunlavey said.
"Straight as straight gets," he said. "If you were going to mold a person into a son, you would create Ryan Bonaminio."
Dunlavey, choking up as he spoke, called the officer's death "an overwhelming loss."
"He was what you would want a police officer to become. ... Very compassionate," Dunlavey said.
Bonominio is survived by his mother, Geraldine; his father, Joseph; brother, Christopher; and sister, Nicole.
Riverside police Officer Derek Kopitch, right, shares a quick embrace with a fellow officer on Market Street in front of Fairmount Park near where Officer Ryan Bonaminio was shot and killed Sunday night. The suspect remains at large. Bonaminio would have been 28 on Thanksgiving. (David Bauman/The Press-Enterprise)
Family friend John Enriquez said the Bonaminios were too distraught to speak Monday.
The officers' parents live in an older, single-story home just west of Riverside Plaza.
In the Army, Bonaminio served with the 314th Military Police in Iraq. He also served in the 282nd Base Support Battalion in Germany.
He earned the Army Commendation Medal, National Defense Service Medal, Army Reserve Mobilization Medal, Global War on Terrorism Expeditionary Medal, Army Reserve Overseas Training Ribbon, Army Reserve Components Achievement Medal and Expert Qualification Badge for the 9mm pistol.
Bonaminio joined the Army Reserves after leaving active duty.
"Ryan has always done what is morally right. He has integrity in everything that he does," Army Military Police Reserve Sergeant Tamara Colosimo said in a news release.
Bonaminio, on solo patrol Sunday night, got a report about 10 p.m. of a hit-and-run accident on Highway 60 near downtown Riverside involving a tractor-truck without a trailer.
THE PURSUIT
The officer began following the truck on Market Street just north of Fairmount Park.
"We know that as soon as the officer attempted to pull him over, he did pull over," Diaz said.
Riverside police officers examine an area where a fellow officer was gunned down. The Fairmount Park entrance from Market Street was closed much of Monday for the probe. (David Bauman/The Press-Enterprise)
But then the man jumped out and fled.
Bonaminio briefly chased him on foot and then was shot. When backup officers arrived, they found the officer wounded on the ground and no sign of the suspect or truck, Diaz said.
He declined to say whether Bonaminio had been wearing a protective vest, or where the officer was hit.
"We heard the shots. ... It was one, two, three," said Shirley Wolfe, who lives on Ridge Road above Fairmount Park. She said it was not unusual to hear gunshots from the park, but "Oh, my God, that was kind of close."
Bonaminio was pronounced dead at 10:22 p.m. at Riverside Community Hospital.
Diaz said the suspect was not necessarily still in the Riverside area.
"At this point, we really don't know where he might be," he said. "We know he made his escape from the immediate area last night after the shooting."
Diaz said officers had talked to the people who reported the hit-and-run involving the tractor-truck, but declined to give details of what they said.
The chief said solo patrols and solo foot chases are standard for Riverside police officers. "Police officers pursue suspects as a matter of routine," Diaz said. "It's part of the danger inherent in the job."
Diaz said counseling was being provided to officers, including those who found Bonaminio in the park as well as officers who followed the chase and shooting on radio calls.
Diaz said he went to a somber 3 p.m. roll call on Monday -- the one Bonaminio would have attended.
Younger officers -- Bonaminio's peer group -- "are taking it especially hard. He was very popular," Diaz said.
Officer Ryan Bonaminio is shown with his father, Joseph, mother, Geraldine, and sister, Nicole, upon his graduation from the San Bernardino County Sheriff's Academy in July 2006. (Special to The Press-Enterprise)
He said many of the dispatchers knew Bonaminio personally or from hearing his voice on the radio.
"They remember him as a fine young man, somebody kind and patient with them and a hard worker," Diaz said.
The chief said offers of help came from several local agencies, including the Corona Police Department, local offices of federal agencies, including the FBI and Secret Service, and the Los Angeles Police Department. Diaz is a retired Los Angeles police commander with 33 years of law enforcement experience. He was hired in June as Riverside's police chief.
Riverside County sheriff's deputies, the California Highway Patrol and the Fontana Police Department assisted directly in the investigation.
Late Monday afternoon, a procession of about 75 police vehicles escorted Bonaminio's body from the coroner's office in Perris to the Acheson & Graham Garden of Prayer Mortuary in Riverside. A color guard will be stationed at the mortuary until the funeral.
"We have made a commitment to the family that Ryan will not be alone and that appropriate honors will be observed," Diaz said.
Details of services had not been set by Monday night.
Like many Riverside police officers, Mason spent much of the night involved in the Bonaminio case. Even after he was off duty, he got little rest.
"I haven't been able to sleep," he said. "I'm haunted by this poor officer."
Anyone with information about the suspect or incident is asked to contact Detective Ron Sanfilippo at 951-353-7105 or Detective Greg Rowe at 951-353-7130.
