El Dorado County DA clears officer in death of mentally ill woman
By Cynthia Hubert, Sacramento Bee
The El Dorado County District Attorney has found that a Placerville police officer was justified in shooting and killing a mentally ill woman who fled a local hospital in a stolen ambulance in late March.
Linda Carol Clark, 39, of Folsom, died in the driveway of a Placerville home after leading officers on a slow chase through town. Police said she tried to ram officers with the vehicle, prompting them to fatally shoot her. An eyewitness disputed that account.
District Attorney Vern Pierson has not released his office’s investigation into the incident. But the dead woman’s father, Marty Hansen, met with officials Wednesday and learned that the shooting has been deemed justifiable, he told The Bee.
