Slain Officer Likely Shot With Own Gun

RIVERSIDE, Calif. (AP) ― A police officer was likely shot to death with his own gun as he struggled with a suspected truck thief, police said Wednesday after arresting a career criminal for the weekend attack.

"There's a good possibility" that Officer Ryan Bonaminio was shot with his own weapon, Detective Ron Sanfilippo said during a news conference.

The gun was found during a search Wednesday morning following Tuesday night's arrest, he said.

Police said that Officer Ryan Bonaminio may have been disarmed after pulling over the driver of a stolen big-rig cab on Sunday night. The suspect had jumped from the truck and ran into a park with the 27-year-old Bonaminio chasing him on foot when the officer was shot.

They gun may have been fired at least three times, Sanfilippo said but declined to discuss other details.

The killer fled after the shooting. During the manhunt, Riverside officers staffed a phone bank around the clock that took calls from around the state, Sanfilippo said. Also, some $400,000 in rewards were offered for information.

However, it was a fingerprint found in the abandoned truck cab that finally identified the suspect, Sanfilippo said.

More than a dozen officers, including members of the Inland Regional Apprehension Team, and FBI agents descended on the Riverside Target shopping center at about 8 p.m. Tuesday and arrested Earl Ellis Green, a 44-year-old who was paroled in February 2009 and lived in nearby Rubidoux, police said.

After questioning by homicide detectives, Green was booked into the Robert Presley Detention Center for investigation of murder and a parole violation. Arraignment was scheduled for Monday, though the district attorney's office said he had not yet been charged.

Green was with his girlfriend, who was questioned and released, Sanfilippo said.

Green's criminal history dating back to at least 1990 and he has served jail time for vehicle theft, receiving stolen property and battery on a police officer, court records show. He was sentenced to three years in prison in 2007 for committing vandalism that caused more than $400 in damage.

"He knew that he was wanted for what he did. He was also a parolee at large, so I believe he was on the run," Sanfilippo said. "He may not have been able to get out of the area but he was well aware that police were looking for him."

A cousin, Eddie Green Jr., told KABC-TV that his relative "has to be disturbed" and had tried to kill an uncle on Saturday, a day before the police officer's killing.

"He just went on a rampage, tried to run him over, tried to stab him," Eddie Green Jr. said.

Police were called to the scene but said it was a civil matter, he said.

However, Sanfilippo said he was unaware of the incident.

"My condolences go out to the family members that lost a loved one and also to the community that lost an officer that was serving his community, that was doing what he was doing," Eddie Green Jr. said.

At the news conference, Bonaminio's father said he was amazed at the speed of the arrest and said his is son would have been proud.

"My son wore his badge very proudly," Joseph Bonaminio said.

Bonaminio was born and raised in Riverside, a suburb of 300,000 people 60 miles east of Los Angeles. He returned to his hometown to be a police officer, as he had long intended to do, after serving Army tours in Iraq and Germany.

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