Irvine : Abducted Officer Battles Suspect Along Freeway

A police officer who was abducted by an armed man Friday managed to subdue his captor by braking to a sudden halt on the Santa Ana Freeway.

The incident began about 1:30 a.m. when Officer Tom Friday stopped a southbound car that had been straddling the dividing line between two lanes on the freeway. When Friday spotted what he believed to be cocaine in the car, he called for a backup officer to help make an arrest on the driver, Edward Reyna Jr., 25, of Peoria, Ariz.

Before the second officer arrived, Reyna began to fight with Friday and managed to wrest away the officer’s gun, according to Sgt. Jeff Kermode. He then ordered Friday into the police car and demanded to be driven to Mexico.

Friday drove about two miles to Sand Canyon Avenue while Reyna allegedly pointed the gun at him and cocked it several times. Just north of the off-ramp, Friday slammed on the brakes in the far right lane, jolting Reyna into the dashboard.

The two men wrestled for the gun and tumbled out of the car and onto the freeway shoulder. While they fought, the police car continued to roll slowly forward in a straight line and finally stopped when it reached a slight upward incline, according to Lt. Al Muir.

They were still fighting when the backup police officer arrived and helped subdue Reyna, who later was booked at Orange County Jail on charges of attempted murder, assault on a police officer with a deadly weapon, kidnaping and possession of cocaine.

About six grams of cocaine were discovered in Reyna’s car, Muir said. Bail has been set at $250,000.

Both Friday, a former Los Angeles County sheriff’s deputy who joined the Irvine Police Department four months ago, and Reyna suffered minor cuts and bruises.