OXNARD, Calif. (AP) – Two police officers patrolling the beach in an SUV on Monday ran over and killed a sunbather, authorities said.
The officers did not immediately realize they ran over the woman and continued driving, police Cmdr. Tom Chronister said in a statement.
The officers, who were not immediately identified, had stopped on a small berm of sand to watch a swimmer whom they believed to be in distress. When they saw the swimmer was fine, they drove over the berm and apparently over the woman’s head, authorities said.
A witness called the Oxnard Fire Department to report the woman was bleeding on the beach just south of the Embassy Suites Mandalay Beach Resort. The woman, Cindy Conolly, 49, of Sioux City, Iowa, was in town for her son’s wedding, said Mike Feiler, senior deputy medical examiner in the Ventura County coroner’s office.
An autopsy was scheduled for Tuesday. The officers have been placed on paid leave pending an investigation.
Oxnard is about 55 miles northwest of downtown Los Angeles.
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