Two Arrested in Deputy’s Death in Raid : 5 Other Lawmen Are Gun, Knife Victims

A 41-year-old woman and a 17-year-old boy were booked on suspicion of murder Sunday after a Los Angeles County Sheriff’s deputy died from a gunshot wound he suffered during a drug raid in South-Central Los Angeles.

Deputy Jack B. Miller, who was shot in the head Friday night, died at 9:30 p.m. Saturday, a County-USC Medical Center spokeswoman said. Another deputy wounded in the raid, John Dickenson, 29, was treated for a gunshot wound and released Sunday from Daniel Freeman Memorial Hospital in Inglewood.

Miller and Dickenson were among six police officers attacked during the weekend in a series of unrelated violent incidents involving lawmen. Two of them--a California Highway Patrol Officer and a San Diego policeman--were fighting for their lives Sunday in hospitals.

Miller’s alleged assailants, Dorothy Waters, 41, and the 17-year-old boy, were booked Sunday on suspicion of murder and possession of cocaine for sale, a sheriff’s spokesman said. Waters and the youth had been taken into custody Friday night after a gun battle at a house in the 1400 block of West 55th Street.

A third suspect was found dead in the house several hours later, and two others were questioned and released. Deputies reported that they confiscated 202 grams of cocaine, four handguns and a rifle from the house.

Miller, 33, a narcotics detective who worked out of the Lennox station, was a 12-year veteran of the Sheriff’s Department. He was married and the father of two children. Miller was the first deputy to be killed in the line of duty this year. Last year, Deputy Charles Anderson was killed when he surprised a burglar in his home, Deputy Van Mosley said.

At the Lennox station Sunday morning, other officers offered a few grim words when they were asked about Miller.

“This is a bad time, an extremely bad time. . . . We’re losing our friends. . . . Good men are getting killed for doing their job,” said Deputy Gary Coniglio.

In another incident of violence toward a police officer, authorities issued an all-points bulletin Sunday for Tino Silva, 25, of Glendale, a suspect in the shooting Saturday of CHP Officer Gary Baker. Baker, 32, was in critical condition at Huntington Memorial Hospital in Pasadena Sunday night after doctors removed a bullet from his brain.

Baker was shot in the face when he stopped a driver in the 4100 block of York Boulevard in Glassell Park for a routine traffic violation, Sgt. Mark Lunn said. The CHP said it wants to locate the unidentified person who used Baker’s radio to call for help immediately after the shooting.

In Pacoima, two Los Angeles police officers were slightly injured Saturday afternoon when they pulled over a truck for erratic driving and allegedly were attacked by a man with a knife.

Officer Mike Laggart said in an interview Sunday that James Morris was driving 15 m.p.h. on Van Nuys Boulevard near Sutter Street and “had his head out the vehicle howling like a dog.”

Laggart said Morris parked his truck and then charged the officers with a 4-inch hunting knife. There was as scuffle, and Laggart said he knocked the knife from Morris’ hand and subdued him before the suspect could reach for a second knife.

Morris, 31, was booked on suspicion of attempted murder of a police officer. Laggart said he suffered a minor cut on his arm and his partner Paul Nelson suffered muscle and cartilage injuries when the suspect kicked him.

In San Diego, police officer Jerry Hartless, 24, was in critical condition with a bullet wound to the head after one of five suspects he was chasing turned and shot him, San Diego Police Lt. James Caster said. Hartless and his partner had stopped a car in an area known as a center for drug trafficking.

The police booked 24-year-old Stacy Butler of San Diego on suspicion of attempted murder. The other suspects were still at large.