Man killed after chase involving H.B. police is ID’d

Authorities have identified a man who they say died in a fiery crash last month after shooting a Huntington Beach police officer, whose life was saved by his badge.

Richard Brent Lund, 59, died in the single-car crash in the Cajon Pass after taking officers on a three-county pursuit on Aug. 26, according to Lt. Mark Stichter, Orange County Sheriff’s Department spokesman. Stichter said he didn’t have a city of residence for Lund.

Just after midnight, Huntington Beach police responded to a domestic violence call at a home near Bushard Street and Yorktown Avenue. As two officers in two separate cars were pulling up, a man was getting into his vehicle to leave the residence, said Officer Jennifer Marlatt, a spokeswoman for the Huntington Beach Police Department.

The officers followed the man, who made a U-turn, drove toward the officers and started firing at them from his vehicle, Marlatt said.

A bullet ricocheted off the police badge worn by one of the officers, who was treated at a hospital and released.

The other officer returned fire, and the man kept driving, initiating the pursuit.

He drove through Costa Mesa and Santa Ana, then got onto the freeways, leading California Highway Patrol officers through Orange, Riverside and San Bernardino counties.

For “reasons that are still under investigation,” the man drove off the Cleghorn Road offramp on the northbound 15 Freeway, said CHP Officer Steve Carapia.

The driver veered to the right and went down into an embankment, where his white Nissan Altima burst into flames, Carapia said. The car was consumed by the fire, and the man died. He was the car’s only occupant, authorities said.

Times Community News staff reporter Brittany Woolsey contributed to this article.