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A mess that started in Anaheim ended in a deadly hail of police gunfire in Santa Ana on Wednesday night, at West Memory Lane and Bristol Street in Santa Ana. The situation was so hot that at one point no less than five helicopters were circling overhead.
As usual the SAPD did a poor job of communicating about what was happening only posting on X that “There is currently a large police presence in the area of Bristol Street and Memory Lane.”
What started this fatal misadventure? Anaheim police officers responded to a motel shooting at around 7:45 p.m. at the 300 block of North Brookhurst Street in Anaheim. They found an injured man who was hospitalized, according to the Anaheim Police.
The Anaheim police spotted a white pickup truck nearby the motel which was believed to be the shooting suspect’s vehicle. When the officers tried to pull over the driver they failed to yield and a police pursuit began that ended up lasting about 45-minutes.
The suspect drove in both directions of the 91 Freeway, as well as on local streets, according to the Anaheim Police. The suspect was barely able to avoid hitting several cars during the pursuit.
The pursuing police officers tried PIT maneuvers and even started to nudge the vehicle when it stopped near State College Boulevard and Westport Drive, but the driver evaded the efforts to stop the vehicle.
The police officers began the chase again, and were finally able to stop the vehicle by using more PIT-maneuver tactics at West Memory Lane and Bristol Street in Santa Ana.
After the suspect’s vehicle crashed ABC 7 News reoprted that the police officers had fired numerous shots at the suspect’s pickup. The windshield of the suspect’s vehicle could be seen to be riddled by the impact of the bullets.
One person died at the scene and a passenger inside the vehicle was detained without injuries, according to the Anaheim Police. The police are not sure yet if the dead suspect was the driver or the passenger.
The Anaheim Police also did not reveal whether the suspect was armed.
There was a similar incident in Santa Ana when a vehicle theft suspect, Brandon Lopez, who was the cousin of Santa Ana City Councilman Johnathan Ryan Hernandez, was fatally shot in Santa Ana by Anaheim police officers after a pursuit through four cities.
Relatives of O.C. Supervisor Vicente Sarmiento sued the Anaheim Police Department after that shooting and obtained a settlement of nearly $6 million dollars, according to the Voice of OC.
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