KILLING OF MAN AFTER CAR CHASE FOUND JUSTIFIED; LAWMAN'S ACTION DEEMED PROPER.

Byline: Don Holland Daily News Staff Writer

A sheriff's deputy who, after a car chase, shot and killed a man wielding a realistic-looking paint-ball gun was justified in opening fire, according to a report released Thursday.

Derek Brandon Myers, 26, of Thousand Oaks, was killed about 3 a.m. May 7 on Sheffield Place in Thousand Oaks. He had a history of depression and reportedly had attempted suicide at least three times, including once just two days before the shooting, according to the 14-page report by Senior Deputy District Attorney Gregory Phillips.

A search of Myers' car turned up his will and a suicide note, indicating he planned to force a deputy to shoot him. Officials also found a dagger, cavalry sword and a spent artillery shell, according to the report.

Myers, who had been unemployed for about six months, was driving erratically on Hillcrest Drive, near the Moorpark Freeway, and refused to stop when Deputy Scott Streltzoff attempted a traffic stop. Myers sped off in his 1988 Ford Thunderbird, racing through the residential neighborhood near where he was raised. He turned into a cul-de-sac and crashed into a retaining wall.

A family member told investigators that it was no accident that Myers headed into the dead end.

Officials said Myers got out of the car and pointed a 23-inch paint-ball gun at the lone deputy. The gun closely resembles a short-barreled shotgun.

Streltzoff, 26, fired eight rounds from his pistol. Six shots hit Myers in the neck, chest, arm, abdomen and thighs. Tests showed Myers had a blood-alcohol level of 0.10, above the legal limit of 0.08.

``Although it appears no warnings were given by Deputy Streltzoff before he fired his weapon, the law does not require it and the deputy did not have time to do so,'' the report stated. ``Deputy Streltzoff used the force that was reasonable and appropriate to the situation.''

Myers' girlfriend, Erica M. Money, told investigators that he was preoccupied with death and suicide and that among the methods he discussed was being shot by police. Myers' roommate, Jeff Ambrose, described him to police as ``walking dead.'' When Myers spoke about killing himself, as he frequently did, Ambrose would ``tune him out,'' according to the report.

During a 1996 psychiatric evaluation, Myers indicated he planned to shoot someone, forcing snipers to shoot and kill him. In another plan, Myers sought to kill his father and ``then keep killing others around until he gets killed by somebody else,'' the report stated.