Local News in Brief : Santa Ana : Suspects in Shooting Captured After Chase

Reports of gunfire in a Santa Ana bar touched off a police chase that ended when one suspect surrendered and a second was sniffed out by police dogs in a yard-to-yard search.

Two people were discovered wounded, one critically, by police who responded to reports of a shooting at the El Temescal tavern in the 900 block of East 4th Street shortly after 10 p.m. Sunday.

The chase began when police interviewing witnesses outside the bar saw a brown station wagon drive by that fit the description of the car in which the gunmen had fled, according to Officer Cliff Seward. The car was pulled over on Borchard Avenue and the driver and a passenger were ordered out of the auto, he said.

“They appeared to start to comply,” Seward said. “However, the driver put the car in reverse and attempted to run over the officers.”

One of the officers fired a single shot, shattering the windshield but not striking anyone, Seward said. The driver sped away and, as he attempted to turn onto Baker Street, lost control and hit a tree.

The passenger, identified as Jose Hores Garcia of Santa Ana, was arrested, but the driver, who was identifierd as Benaba Cortez Rivera, 28, of Santa Ana, fled on foot.

Two police dogs and a police helicopter searched for the driver, who was found hiding in bushes in the back yard of a house in the 1400 block of South Magnolia Avenue. Rivera was treated for dog bites to his right shoulder and arm. A loaded handgun was found in the car, Seward said.

The shooting victims, meanwhile, remained hospitalized late Monday at Western Medical Center in Santa Ana. Olegario Orozco Alcaraz, 22, of Santa Ana, was listed in critical condition with a gunshot wound in the chest, while George Perez Serrato, 29, also of Santa Ana, was in stable condition with a leg wound, police said.

Two suspects were being held in the Orange County Jail on suspicion of attempted homicide and assault with a deadly weapon on an officer.