Francis Pusok

Francis Pusok is selfish, mean and violent.  In 2013 he shot and killed a puppy in front of his live-in girlfriend and their three children to underscore his threat against his girlfriend whose screams had alerted the neighbors to call the police.  He was already a convicted felon at that time so he was charged with, among other things, illegal possession of a fire arm.

On another occasion, Pusok threatened to kill the deputy sheriff when he was being put in the squad car.  He kicked out the window of the squad car. 

Thursday, April 9, 2015, at 12:12 p.m. deputies from the Victor Valley station went to the Zuni Rd. residence to serve a search warrant related to an Identity Theft investigation.   Pusok again attempted to escape the cops.  He drove off in his car, driving through rough roads toward Mike Castro's ranch.  The cops followed him in vehicles and helicopters.  When he got near the ranch, he got out of his car and ran to Deep Creek, where he encountered some campers on horseback and stole one of their horses.  He rode the horse into the mountains, beating the horse so hard that the horse almost lost her balance in the sand.  One of the police helicopter's frightened the horse into throwing Pusok onto the ground and then a dozen cops descended from the helicopter, surrounded Pusok and arrested him.  The cops, angry and determined not to lose him again, filled with rage, kicked Pusok in the head and groin and then beat him for two minutes with fists, elbows and tazer boxes which they used as blunt force instruments to bludgeon him.

Did the police have the right to give vent to their fury or did they have an obligation to control their tempers in the raging desert sun after cooperating as a pack for three hours to apprehend Pusok? 

The Chase. 

The first leg of Pusok's flight was in his car, driving from his home on Zuni Street in Apple Valley to the Bowen Ranch.  The second leg was done by horseback from the Bowen Ranch to Hwy 173 and Arrowhead Lake Road.  This required the horse, trained to be gentle with visitors, to carry him through 21 miles of rough terrain.  When the camera picked him up at the end of the horseback chase he was beating the horse which was staggering to keep her balance in deep sand. 

It is unknown how Pusok knew that the police were about to serve him with a warrant.  Was he alerted by Mike Castro?  Casto is a local desert rat who helps hikers who get lost and bikers who break down.  He has a reputation of becoming violent when campers fail to pay the $10 fee he charges to camp on his property.  He has been known to threaten campers with his axe and his guns.  To this day the widow of Ronnie Bates believes that Castro killed her husband.  He was charged with a crime relating to weapons in San Bernardino but has a good relationship with the police for whom he has served as a confidential informant as well as assisting the police in search and rescue missons.  Possibly it was he who warned Pusok that the police were on his way to Pusok's house. 

When the police finally corraled Pusak and had him on the ground their heart rates and blood pressure were so elevated that the chemical taste of adrenalin coursed through their mouths and noses.  The most dangerous part of the task was to apprehend the criminal who might have decided to go down in a blaze of glory.  Blinded by sweat from the sun and from fear, the cops would be barely able to breath, let alone control their shaking with relief, exhiliaration, anger, hate and rage which always accompanies the end of a pursuit.  There are few activities in law enforcement more harrowing or more dangerous than a pursuit. It doesn't matter if it is a vehicle pursuit or a foot pursuit.  The most dangerous part of a pursuit is the pursuit termination,  when the pursuit comes to an end. An officer is at considerable risk at the end of a pursuit, physically and professionally. While the physical dangers are obvious, the lesser considered danger is the danger to an officer's career.

 If an officer looses control of his emotions and is unable to keep himself in check, his career could be over.  This loss of control is extremely likely when the officers have joined as a team to pursue a subject which requires the submergence of the individual into the group mentality, or pack mentality.  Man is a pack animal and, under stress, man will revert to his original nature.  One too many punches; an out-of-character, gratuitous kick; an errant swing of the baton; one too many pounds of pressure applied by a shaking finger to a trigger, and a career could be over. Livelihood lost. Reputation forever sullied. Freedom taken away or, in the face of the fear of said threats, the potential for suicide.

Official cars engaged in the three hour chase.  Deputies pursued Pusok through the unicorporated area of Apple Valley, the Town of Apple Valley and further into the unincorporated area of Hesperia. Pusok abandoned the vehicle southwest of Bowen Ranch and fled on foot. Deputies were actively searching for Pusok on foot, using off-highway vehicles and helicopters. Within minutes, deputies received information that the suspect came into contact with a group of people near the Deep Creek Hot Springs and stole a horse. He fled on horseback on dirt trails, through very rugged, steep terrain, causing numerous injuries to the horse.

A Sheriff’s helicopter inserted a team of deputies in the area of Hwy 173/Arrowhead Lake Rd. to take the suspect in to custody. Deputies made contact with Pusok and as they approached, the horse threw him off. A Taser was deployed but was ineffective due to his loose clothing. A use of force occurred during the arrest.

Jim Terrell is Pusok's family attorney whose office is located in a strip mall at 15411 Anacapa Road, Victorville, California.