http://www.utsandiego.com/news/2002/jul/06/sagon-penn-couldnt-have-life/

Penn shot and killed San Diego police Officer Thomas Riggs, shot and ran over Officer Donovan Jacobs and wounded a civilian observer after he was pulled over in Encanto on March 31, 1985.

Police said they were looking for a gang member who had been seen with a gun about 15 minutes earlier. Penn, who had several friends in his pickup, was returning home from Balboa Park.

The confrontation began when Jacobs asked Penn for his license, but Penn refused to remove it from his wallet.

After two trials that focused attention on the Police Department's relationship with minorities, Penn was acquitted of murder in Riggs' death and of attempted-murder and attempted-manslaughter charges in the wounding of Jacobs and civilian ride-along Sarah Pina-Ruiz. A jury deadlocked on lesser charges, but Penn was not retried on those.

Penn claimed he fired in self-defense after grabbing Jacobs' gun. His case divided the city and ultimately led to the formation of the city's first citizens police review board.