Attack With Tire Iron Charged : Shot by Off-Duty Officer Hurts Suspect

An off-duty Los Angeles police officer shot a suspect who attacked him with a tire iron Thursday while the policeman was trying to stop him and another man from stripping a car in North Hollywood, police said.

Officer David C. Wright, 25, was treated for a possible skull fracture at St. Joseph Medical Center in Burbank and released, Lt. Charles Higbie of the Police Department’s officer-involved-shooting team said.

The injured suspect, 23-year-old Manuel Carrillo, was hospitalized at St. Joseph with a chest wound and was in serious but stable condition Thursday, a hospital spokeswoman said.

Higbie said a second suspect, Eusebio Hurtado, 19, was not hurt.

The incident occurred about 2 a.m. when Wright walked past Danny’s Dogs food stand at 11354 Vanowen St. and saw the two stripping a car in the parking lot, police said. When Wright went to phone other police, Carrillo struck him twice in the head and stomach, Higbie said.

Wright identified himself as a police officer and fired one round from his service revolver as Carrillo continued his attack, Higbie said. The two suspects then fled on foot along Tujunga Avenue with Wright in pursuit, Higbie said.

The suspects separated and, when Carrillo attempted to drive away in a car, Wright fired two rounds into a rear tire but failed to stop the vehicle, Higbie said. Wright then fired another round through the car’s side window, wounding Carrillo in the chest and causing the car to crash into a curb, according to Higbie.

The suspects were caught by uniformed officers who had been called by witnesses. Hurtado was arrested on suspicion of theft from a motor vehicle and for traffic warrants, and Carrillo was arrested on suspicion of theft from a motor vehicle and assault with a deadly weapon, Higbie said.

Both men are transients, police said.