Suspect in Officer’s Death Seen Limping Off Freeway

Investigators are searching for a man seen holding his head and limping away from a freeway ramp where a Los Angeles County sheriff’s sergeant crashed his van after being shot to death over the weekend, police said Tuesday.

“The suspect apparently sustained some injuries,” said Los Angeles Police Lt. Edwin Henderson, commander of the Robbery-Homicide Division’s major crimes section.

Sgt. George Lynn Arthur was first thought to be the victim of a traffic accident, but an autopsy on Monday revealed that he had died of multiple gunshot wounds.

As Arthur, 37, entered the Santa Ana Freeway on the Mission Road ramp Saturday night, his brown 1979 Chevrolet van crashed into a wall dividing ramps to the southbound Santa Ana and eastbound San Bernardino freeways, police said.

“The thing puzzling us is that witnesses said the shooting appeared to have occurred while the van was in motion,” Henderson said. “That leaves two possibilities: The suspect could have forced his way into the van, or he could have been hiding in the van before the sergeant got in.”

Police described the suspect as an Anglo or Latino man, between 5 feet, 9 inches and 5 feet, 10 inches tall, weighing between 140 and 175 pounds and 25 to 35 years old.