Teen-Ager Shot by Officer in Chase : Patrolman Tripped Over a Pile of Wood, Police Say

A 16-year-old Locke High School 10th-grader--shot by a policeman pursuing him in a darkened walkway in an area frequented by gangs--was in critical condition Saturday. Police said the officer shot the youth accidentally after tripping over a pile of wood.

The boy, Manuel Diaz, was in the Martin Luther King Jr.-Drew Medical Center undergoing treatment for bullet wounds to his left arm and lower abdomen.

At the hospital Saturday, about 20 friends and relatives, including the victim’s parents, gathered outside the intensive-care unit to wait for news.

“My brother is not a delinquent,” said Angie Diaz, 19, the victim’s sister. However, she said he had gotten into trouble for skipping school and often spent time with members of the South Los gang, which has a presence in the neighborhood.

The incident took place about 7:30 p.m. Friday shortly after Los Angeles police responded to a complaint about a loud radio at 239 E. 88th St.

“They weren’t doing anything,” Diaz said, who added that she had talked to people who were there. “He was just listening to music.”

Because of the area’s reputation as a haven for gangs, two officers parked a short distance away from the house as a precaution. As they got out of their car, the two officers spotted three to four young men running in various directions, according to Sgt. Sid Nuckles.

Officer Robert R. Duty began chasing Manuel Diaz, who was carrying a large object in his hands that turned out to be a radio, according to Nuckles.

Thinking the young man might be armed, Duty, 26, pulled his service revolver, Nuckles said.

“As he reached the rear yard at that portion of the building, he stumbled over a pile of wood and accidentally fired one round, striking Diaz in the upper torso,” Nuckles said.

Diaz’s companions fled and could not be found, Nuckles said. Duty was not injured.

Several at the hospital asserted that the officer had not tripped before he fired his gun, basing their statements on what they said were eyewitness accounts of two young girls.

However, one of the girls, Veronica Franco, 9, a South Park Elementary School fourth-grader who had been in the next yard, said in an interview that she and her older sister Elvia had indeed seen the flash of gunfire but were blocked by a fence from seeing the shooting itself or the final seconds of the chase that preceded it.

On the other side of the fence Saturday, a pile of wood lay strewn in a corner a short distance from where the victim had fallen.

“If it was an accident, OK,” Angie Diaz said. “But if it wasn’t, I hope (the officer) loses his job and goes to jail.”