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The Region - News from Nov. 5, 1985

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An unidentified man was fatally wounded by a Santa Monica police officer who found him trying to break into a restaurant safe with a crowbar. Officer Michael Van Achen, 31, and his partner responded to a burglary in progress at the Chez Jay in the 1600 block of Ocean Avenue, investigators said. The officers said they identified themselves as police and ordered the burglar to drop the crowbar. Instead, they said, he advanced at Van Achen, who fired once. The man, said to be in his early 20s, was pronounced dead with a gunshot wound in the face at Santa Monica Hospital.

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