Walter Freeman's Family Looks for Answers and Celebrates His Life One Year Later
Editor's Note: We at Bike San Diego would like to take this opportunity to once again publicly ask that the San Diego Police Department make the details of this investigation known, or to speak with us concerning the case. We believe the community has a right to know the details of any incident involving a public safety officer and the death of a law-abiding citizen.
I met Walter Freeman’s daughter for coffee last week to discuss the crash that killed her father one year ago. In the months since Freeman was struck by an on-duty SDPD officer while riding his bike in University City, Yvonne Nieto has become her family’s spokesperson about the incident. It is not a role Nieto has relished. For Freeman’s family and friends, it has been a year of loss, sadness, frustration, and anger as they try to get answers from the SDPD about what happened.
“Our family has managed to learn to accept the reality of not having Walt with us,” says Nieto, but “it is not easy for us to process the circumstances surrounding his premature departure.”
“He Was Extremely Conscientious”
One of the hardest things for the family to come to grips with over the last year has been understanding how Freeman, an extremely safety-conscious cyclist described by Nieto as “deliberate” and “patient”, could have simply ridden into the path of an approaching car, as some witnesses claimed. Every road user sometimes makes errors in judgment, but as Nieto emphasized, “that was not Walt.”
In their press release last year, the family said that Freeman “cycled the roads of UCSD, Torrey Pines, and Mission Bay Park without incident for over 20 years and made bike safety his number one priority. He was a highly skilled and experienced cyclist.”
Nieto described her father as safety-conscious almost to a fault. She smiled and rolled her eyes a little as she described riding with him, remembering how he was always cautioning her to be careful. When it came to bike safety, Freeman’s family had a saying: “WWWD--What Would Walt Do? The day he was struck, he was wearing a reflective vest and a bright red helmet.
What Really Happened?
Nieto believes that Freeman exited a gas station driveway on the northwest corner of Governor Drive and Genesee Avenue and was attempting to make a legal move into the left turn lane on the southbound side of Genesee Avenue. She thinks he was planning to make a left on Governor Drive, heading east and heading home. In order to do this, he crossed the right southbound lane of Genesee, and was proceeding across the left southbound lane when he was struck by the patrol car travelling in that lane.
But questions remain concerning why the officer at the wheel did not see Freeman enter the roadway. According to friends and family, it would not have been like Freeman to make a risky or hasty move into traffic. “He was extremely conscientious. It strikes me as very unlikely that he would have just cut across lanes without looking or signaling,” says a friend and coworker of Freeman’s, also an avid cyclist.
In our earlier coverage of the incident, Bike San Diego raised many of the same questions that Nieto and her family are still waiting to have answered. Was Freeman executing a legal lane change and expecting the SDPD officer, of all drivers, to see him? Were the witnesses who claimed that Freedman “suddenly” darted in front of the patrol car even aware that a bicyclist has the same rights as a car to change lanes? How did the officer miss the brightly colored cyclist exiting a driveway and crossing one full lane? Was that officer driving distracted? Did the police officer initiate his defensive driver training learned 18 months earlier?
Looking for Answers, Not Money or Animosity
Freeman’s family has decided not to pursue legal action against the SDPD. Nieto says the decision was based in part on the advice of lawyers, who told her she had little chance of winning against the city, especially since the SDPD’s own investigation was the only one conducted. The decision was also based on Nieto’s conviction that the family’s first priority is not to seek financial retribution or compensation, but rather understanding about what really happened in the last few minutes before the crash.
In their press release from almost a year ago, Freeman’s family stated that, “we do not seek retribution from the SDPD, instead we seek answers, comfort, and closure.” Nieto and her family just want to know what happened, and they don’t believe the SDPD’s internal investigation tells the whole story. “How could it?” Nieto asked with a touch of anger.
Despite her frustrations, Nieto emphasized that her feelings about the SDPD are based on the way they treated her family and handled this case, and that her search for answers is not an anti-police stance. Our coverage at Bike San Diego has been based on a similar conviction – we are not seeking to vilify or demonize the officer involved, the SDPD, or the City of San Diego. We have only sought from the beginning that they at least communicate with the community. Their refusal to do so doesn’t help anyone.
Nieto says her family understood that the SDPD couldn’t release all of the details before their investigation was finished. But she says all the family wanted was support, some sort of outreach from the department. They wanted someone to acknowledge their family in a timely manner. Instead, Nieto believes the department was afraid that any outreach to the family would be perceived as an admission of fault, that it might open the department to a lawsuit.
Throughout the investigation, Nieto says it seemed as though all the detectives wanted from the family was some sort of information that would confirm their belief that the crash had been Freeman’s fault. Once the investigation and report were completed, exonerating the officer involved, Nieto described the SDPD’s attitude as dismissive: “the paperwork was finished and put away.” But, she added quietly, “it was completely different for us. We have had to come to terms with his death and with our own interpretation and theory about what really happened that day.”
A Ride to Remember
On Sunday, to commemorate his life, Nieto and some friends rode the route her father planned to take the morning he was killed, as well as another of his favorite mountain bike rides. “Walt had a sense of humor, and had a boy-like charm, which I saw when we rode together,” says Nieto, and she believes a memorial bike ride is a fitting tribute. She hopes next year to expand her memorial ride to include other cyclists, but this year, she said the memories and emotions were too raw to share with others.
Yvonne Nieto wants to make sure her father’s untimely death isn’t forgotten and that the questions still surrounding it continue to be raised. She wants drivers to put down their phones and other devices. She wants cyclists to realize that many drivers are distracted by in-car devices, and to ride defensively and safely. But more than anything, Nieto wants to do something to create a positive legacy for her father: “I am committed to continue his legacy to help others, teach others, and live a healthy life.”
As we shook hands and parted, she said: “That’s why I’m talking to you. It’s what Walt would want.”
See all of Bike San Diego's coverage of the Walter Freeman case here.
SDPD Still Silent on Crash That Killed Cyclist
Last November, Walter Freeman, an experienced cyclist and University City resident, was killed at the intersection of Governor Drive and Genesee Avenue by a San Diego Police Department officer in a cruiser responding to a call without lights or sirens activated. The SDPD claimed at the time that the officer was travelling the posted speed limit of 45 m.p.h., and witnesses at the scene said that Freeman turned out of a gas station parking lot, crossed two lanes, and entered the path of the cruiser. Freeman was wearing a bright reflective vest and a helmet at the time.
In the weeks after the crash, Freeman’s family pleaded publicly with the SDPD to communicate with them about the investigation. They knew Walter to be a conscientious, experienced, and safe cyclist, and could not understand how or why the deadly crash occurred.
In the months since Freeman’s death, Bike San Diego has tried to contact the SDPD several times to learn more details of the incident and the status of the investigation. The typical response from the SDPD has been silence, and we have been explicitly denied the official report into the crash (which was supposedly finished in February) on the grounds that we are not family members or holders of an official media credential. When we applied for a media credential, we were denied.
Another SDPD Officer Hits a Bicyclist
This afternoon around 2:40pm in Hillcrest (University Avenue between 10th Avenue and Vermont Street), an SDPD officer on a motorcycle struck a bicyclist, reportedly causing minor injuries to both the bicyclist and the officer. This comes two months after an SDPD cruiser struck and killed Walter Freeman in University City. Police Chief William Lansdowne has not responded to our call to release details of that investigation, and it seems unlikely, given the apparently minor severity of this latest incident, that any more details will be forthcoming.
And discuss at SDBikeCommuter.
Our E-Mail to SDPD About the Crash that Killed Walter Freeman
It has been more than a month since a marked SDPD cruiser struck and killed avid bicyclist Walter Freeman in University City. No information has been forthcoming from the SDPD regarding the results of their investigation, which they initially promised would be completed and released within a week of the incident. Below is the e-mail we sent to Chief William Lansdowne this morning, reminding the SDPD of their obligation to the citizens of San Diego to provide a full and public investigation of this deadly incident involving one of our public safety officers:
Dear Chief Lansdowne,
I am writing both as a concerned citizen and as the editor of Bike San Diego, a news and advocacy blog highlighting bicycling issues in the city and county of San Diego. The concern I would like to bring to your attention today is the lack of information coming from the SDPD regarding the investigation into the crash that killed bicyclist Walter Freeman on November 9, 2009. As you know, one of your officers was driving the marked patrol car that struck and killed Freeman. It has been more than one month since the crash, and your department promised information within a week of the incident. That information has not been forthcoming, and I would like to remind you of your obligation to the citizens of this city to provide them with information about public safety. This includes disclosing the details and results of this investigation, at the very least so that concrete steps can be taken to make this intersection a safer place to ride a bicycle. Naturally, I and other bicyclists in San Diego are very interested to hear the results of your department's investigation.
Respectfully, Thomas Bahde
Naturally, we will also post the SDPD's response, if any, and as soon as we have details of the investigation, we will share them with you.
Ghost Bike Memorial for Walter Freeman
While the family of Walter Freeman asks the SDPD to provide them with some support after an officer struck and killed Freeman on November 9, the bicycling community has lent its own show of support for the avid and safety-conscious cyclist. NBC 7/39 reports that a Ghost Bike memorial has appeared at the intersection where Freeman was killed.
The SDPD continues to claim that Freeman veered directly into the path of the oncoming cruiser after exiting a filling station driveway, but has still not concluded its investigation into the matter, three and half weeks after the incident. They had originally promised results of the investigation within a week of Freeman's death.
Previously on BikeSD:
Questions in the Deadly University City Crash Involving an SDPD Officer
Bicyclist Killed in University City Crash with SDPD Car
Photo: NBC 7/39