Officer Cleared Of Wrongdoing in Super Bowl Sunday Shooting

LAKE COUNTY, IL — A Waukegan police officer who fatally shot a drunken driver over fears that the man was going to run his vehicle into him has been cleared of any wrongdoing, authorities said Thursday. The Lake County State's Attorney's Office has determined Rolando Villafuerte acted "reasonably and appropriately" in the officer-involved shooting this past Super Bowl Sunday.

A post-mortem toxicology analysis also revealed Asuncion J. Gomez-Guerrero had a blood alcohol concentration of .182 and marijuana in his system during the confrontation in the 3500 block of Winhaven Drive on Feb. 3, according to the state's attorney's office. Villafuerte was called to the 3500 block of Winhaven Drive in Waukegan at 2:46 p.m. for an "unknown problem" involving several people, prosecutors said.

When the officer arrived, Villafuerte made contact with Gomez-Guerrero who was trying to leave the area in his car at the time.

"To prevent Gomez-Guerrero from leaving, Villafuerte parked his clearly marked Waukegan police vehicle one to 1.5 car lengths away from the vehicle driven by Gomez-Guerrero," according to the state's attorney's findings, which included witness interviews and an in-depth review of all photographs and video collected as evidence during the case. "Villafuerte was standing in front of the vehicle driven by Gomez-Guerrero, and the officer repeatedly and clearly instructed Gomez-Guerrero to stop."

But instead, Gomez-Guerrero started the car up and put it in reverse and Villafuerte put his hands on the hood of the car and said, “No!! No!! Hey! Hey! Turn it off!!” At that time, Gomez-Guerrero put the car in “drive” and turned the wheel toward Villafuerte, according to the state's attorney's report.

Villafuerte’s left leg was struck by the front bumper, forcing the officer to back up and try to slide to the side of the vehicle to avoid being run over. Instead of heeding the officer's commands, Guerrero drove forward and Villafuerte took out his gun and fired three shots into the windshield of the vehicle, according to the state's attorney's office.

“During this entire encounter, Officer Villafuerte acted firmly, responsibly and took every reasonable step to avoid a confrontation,” Lake County State’s Attorney Michael Nerheim said. “Mr. Gomez-Guerrero’s acts of turning the car towards Officer Villafuerte and accelerating in his direction created the reasonable belief that Officer Villafuerte’s life was in imminent danger. He acted reasonably in eliminating that threat.”

A summary of the incident can be found on the Lake County State's Attorney's Office website. Once the state's attorney's office's civil division reviews the case, the remainder of the videos, additional evidence, and police reports will be released to the public.

“Again, this event illustrates how a seemingly innocent police task can suddenly become a deadly confrontation,” Nerheim said.