LODD- P.O. Nick Birco, San Francisco PD 7-26-06

[Truck4 48]

P.O. Nick-Tomasito Birco, 39, with 5-years on the job, was rammed by a suspect vehicle during a pursuit and killed.

"Nick-Tomasito Birco, 39, who had been on the force five years, was killed when a Dodge van carrying the four robbery suspects broadsided his patrol car at Cambridge and Felton streets in the Portola district at 12:56 a.m. The van was being chased north on Cambridge by officers in at least two other cruisers.

Birco's car was spun around 360 degrees, hit a curb and a light pole and came to rest on its side. The van slammed into a home and other parked cars.

The van's occupants, three men and a woman, were arrested at the scene. They are suspected of having robbed and assaulted a man a short time before on Bayshore Boulevard, police said.

The van's driver faced charges of burglary and lewd conduct with a minor and was free on bail, court records show. He had been arrested on suspicion of auto theft last month but was released without being charged, records show.

"Tragically, we have lost an officer who was out there protecting the public," Chief Heather Fong said at an early morning news conference.

Birco worked at Bayview station and was on duty there when he went out on the robbery call at 12:37 a.m., said sources who have seen computer dispatch logs.

A man coming off work told police he had been punched in the face at a bus stop on Bayshore Boulevard and robbed of his cell phone and $200, authorities said.

After spotting the suspect vehicle at a nearby McDonalds, officers pursued the van for 12 minutes as it headed south on Interstate 280 at speeds reaching 85 mph. The van briefly drove along streets in Colma and Daly City before getting back on the freeway heading toward San Francisco.

The van soon left the freeway and drove into the Portola district. Dispatchers put out a call for officers who were equipped with spike strips, which are used to stop fleeing cars.

Birco's cruiser ended up at Cambridge and Felton, where the fleeing van ran a stop sign and crashed into it, police said. Investigators say they believe Birco was headed east through the intersection.

Other officers arrived and began administering CPR. Birco was taken to San Francisco General Hospital, where he was pronounced dead.

Eric Nubla, a resident of Cambridge Street, said officers chased at least one of the suspects down the block. Several minutes later, he said, a man whom police identified as the robbery victim confronted one of the suspects and yelled, "You killed my friend!'' Police had no explanation for the comment.

"He started kicking and punching the guy,'' Nubla said. "The cops wrestled him down.''

Late in the day, Fong issued a statement that did not directly address the questions about Birco's involvement but said he had been "performing his duties in support of other units. Officer Birco and the other officers acted heroically in trying to capture these violent suspects."

Investigators say the van was driven by Steven Wayne Petrilli, 19, of Hayward, who at the time was free on $175,000 bail pending charges in a 2005 burglary as well as a separate case of lewd conduct with a 13-year-old girl in 2004.

Last month, police arrested Petrilli on suspicion of auto theft, but prosecutors declined to bring charges, records show. Russ Giuntini, District Attorney Kamala Harris' chief assistant district attorney, declined to comment.

Records show that Petrilli was suspected of having led officers on a chase through the Excelsior in January 2005 in a stolen car. The officers called off the pursuit, but Petrilli was arrested when officers spotted him later that day.

He was convicted of carrying a concealed weapon in the vehicle and was sentenced to three years' probation and six months in drug treatment. He was due back in court on the burglary and lewd conduct charges Aug. 22. His attorney, Lisa DewBerry, declined to comment.

Police would not identify the other arrested suspects.

Department officials said Birco's death was especially difficult for Bayview station officers still reeling from the April 2004 shooting death of Officer Isaac Espinoza, who was assigned to the station.

"It goes without saying the concern we all have for all of the officers, particularly those serving in the Bayview-Hunters Point station," Mayor Gavin Newsom said. "I can't express to you how concerned I am about their well-being