PCP Use Suspected : Driver Held After Hitting Officer’s Bike

A Sepulveda man, believed to be under the influence of phencyclidine (PCP), was arrested on suspicion of attempted murder Tuesday after he rammed his pickup truck into a traffic officer’s motorcycle, police said Wednesday.

The officer, John C. Cook, 43, was treated at Valley Hospital Medical Center in Van Nuys for a back sprain and injuries to his left hand, then released, police Capt. Albert Fried said.

The suspect, Larry Wayne Phillips, an auto mechanic, was being held without bail Wednesday at Van Nuys Jail.

Police said Phillips, 24, smashed his truck into a car at a traffic light on Victory Boulevard in Van Nuys at about 6 p.m. Tuesday. Phillips backed up his truck and hit the car two more times, then sped off, turning north onto Van Nuys Boulevard, Fried said.

The car’s driver was not injured and began chasing Phillips, Fried said. As the chase continued, Phillips crossed three lanes of traffic and struck Cook’s motorcycle from behind, pushing it across the intersection of Van Nuys Boulevard and Kittridge Street, Fried said.

Cook tumbled off the motorcycle and Phillips jumped out of his truck, charging the officer “in a rage,” Fried said.

“The officer yelled at him to stop, and the guy just stopped,” Fried said. “It was a simple command and he sat just like a dog.”

Fried said a drug evaluation at the scene indicated that Phillips had taken PCP, also known as “angel dust.” A blood sample was later taken for testing.

Officers found a glass vial on Phillips believed to contain PCP, Fried said. Phillips, who was arrested in 1983 for possessing PCP for sale, was driving with a suspended driver’s license and had a stolen license plate inside his truck, Fried said.

Police said they expect to file more criminal charges against Phillips.