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Brother says he tried to prevent shooting By Jessica Smith A man whose brother is on trial for shooting at two Medford police officers said he tried to prevent the violence by taking bullets from his brother and stuffing them in his shoe. Adan Sanchez-Llamas, 19, testified Wednesday he knew his 27-year-old brother, Moises Sanchez-Llamas, was armed with two guns when the pair went looking for Kristi Lee Whitehead, the older brother�s estranged girlfriend, in the early morning hours of Dec. 18, 1999. According to Adan Sanchez-Llamas and Whitehead, Moises Sanchez-Llamas had been drinking, and he was upset when Whitehead refused to leave a Medford bar with him. The men didn�t find Whitehead at her home, but that didn�t stop Moises Sanchez-Llamas from forcing his way into a South Columbus Avenue duplex with a .357 Magnum and a 9mm pistol. Speaking through an interpreter, Adan Sanchez-Llamas said he tried to talk to his brother to calm him. When that didn�t work, Adan Sanchez-Llamas said he reached into his brother�s pocket to pull out a number of bullets. He put them in one of his shoes. But his attempts to prevent his brother from hurting anyone didn�t work. The guns Moises Sanchez-Llamas carried were apparently loaded. He�s on trial this week for two counts of attempted aggravated murder for firing at two police officers, injuring one. According to testimony from witnesses and officers, Moises Sanchez-Llamas encountered two officers at the rear of the residence shortly after Medford police were called to the South Columbus duplex. Mike Strouse, one of the officers at the rear of the duplex, said he and officer Scott Clauson saw a man crouching nearby. Strouse said Clauson shined a flashlight on the man and identified himself as a police officer. Testifying that he believes he heard Clauson order the man to show his hands, Strouse said the sounds of gunfire came quickly. "As he was spinning toward us, I could see something in his hand ... bright, shiny, chrome. I thought it was a gun," Strouse said. Then "boom, right as we were standing there, the suspect was firing at us." Strouse and Clauson, who was struck by a bullet in the right leg, returned fire but did not hit Sanchez-Llamas. Ballistics tests later matched bullet fragments taken from Clauson�s leg to Sanchez-Llamas� Magnum. In cross examination, defense attorney Bob Abel questioned the prosecution�s witnesses about whether officers could be heard giving commands to Sanchez-Llamas. He also asked witnesses about lighting; several witnesses said it was extremely dark the night of the shooting. Abel and Jackson County District Attorney Mark Huddleston, who�s prosecuting the case, also asked witnesses to talk about the circumstances under which Sanchez-Llamas was taken into custody. Sanchez-Llamas apparently ran north after the brief shoot-out with Strouse and Clauson. Misty Senter, who lives in the complex where the shooting occurred, testified she saw officers tackle Sanchez-Llamas and beat him. She said one officer struck Sanchez-Llamas with the butt of a shotgun. Strouse admitted he initiated the tackle, saying he feared Sanchez-Llamas was still armed when he was confronted by a small group of officers. "I was fearful for everybody involved," said officer Ben Lytle. "As far as I knew, he was still armed." Lytle, Strouse and two other officers involved in taking Sanchez-Llamas into custody said they used "focused blows" � closed-fist punches � to force Sanchez-Llamas to show officers his hands. Though two officers � Josh Danrich and Justin Ivens � carried shotguns to the scene, all the officers said no guns were used to hit Sanchez-Llamas. Most of the officers said the tackle and focused blows were necessary to make Sanchez-Llamas respond to their commands, although a couple of officers said it appeared Sanchez-Llamas was attempting to comply before he was tackled. If convicted on a single count of attempted aggravated murder, a Measure 11 offense, Sanchez-Llamas faces 120 months in prison under the state�s mandatory minimum sentencing guidelines. Sanchez-Llamas, who�s been in custody since Dec. 18, 1999, is also charged with one count of first-degree assault, two counts of unlawful use of a weapon, one count of resisting arrest, and two counts of first-degree burglary with a firearm, among other things. Reach reporter Jessica Smith at 776-4481, or e-mail [email protected] Mail Tribune Home | Ottaway Newspapers, Inc. | Dow Jones & Co., Inc. | Privacy | Contact Us Copyright � 2001 Mail Tribune, Inc.