Boy, 17, Shot by Officer While Being Arrested

A 17-year-old boy was shot in the arm late Friday when a San Diego policeman’s gun fired as the officer slipped and fell in a steep Paradise Hills canyon while attempting to arrest the youth, police said.

Detectives from the department’s homicide detail have been assigned to investigate the case, as is routinely done when a policeman shoots someone, police said.

The boy, whose name was withheld because he is a juvenile, was taken to UCSD Medical Center for treatment of a single bullet wound to his upper left arm. He was listed in good condition Saturday afternoon.

Events leading up to the shooting began at 9:40 p.m. when Officers Stephen Samoncik and Kenneth Hodges saw a car run a stop sign at Potomac Street and Siapan Drive. The officers began a pursuit that covered about a mile and reached speeds of up to 75 m.p.h., police said.

The chase ended when the speeding car--which turned out to be stolen--hit a curb in the 6000 block of Boxer Road and stopped. Two boys, both age 17, got out and fled into a nearby canyon, with Samoncik and Hodges, guns drawn, in pursuit.

Samoncik found one of the boys hiding in a bush on a side of the canyon, which police said had a slippery, 40-degree slope. The boy was ordered to lie face-down on the ground. As he was being handcuffed, the boy moved suddenly, knocking Samoncik off balance, said police.

As Samoncik fell, his gun fired, wounding the boy, police said.

The other 17-year-old boy was arrested without incident by National City police.