South County : Wounded Man Wanted for Violation of Parole

A 25-year-old man wounded in a shoot-out with Orange County sheriff’s deputies at Nellie Gail Ranch on Monday morning is a fugitive wanted in Nevada for parole violation, authorities said.

Matthew G. Kaufman was convicted in the South Lake Tahoe area of Nevada for cashing $2,676 worth of bad checks in 1987 at Harvey’s Casino, where he worked, according to John Slansky, chief of the Nevada Department of Parole and Probation.

Slansky said that Kaufman, who served 1 year of his 3-year sentence, was released in October, 1988, and transferred to California to serve his parole. Kaufman, while living in California, had been working in Reno before he left town without notifying his parole officer, Slansky said.

“He (left) supervision here in Nevada, and I signed a warrant for his arrest in February,” Slansky said.

Kaufman has also had a history of arrests in California. He was arrested in Los Angeles in 1982 for theft, in Burbank in 1985 for forgery and in Santa Ana in 1986 for possession of hashish, Slansky said.

Kaufman in a reported stolen car was approached by an Orange County sheriff’s deputy Monday and led police on a 5-mile chase which ended in gunfire. One officer was wounded when a bullet grazed his forehead. Kaufman was shot once in the chest and a second bullet wounded him in the forehead.

The deputy, 32-year-old Steve Ripple, was listed in fair condition at Mission Hospital Regional Medical Center on Wednesday. Kaufman was also listed in fair condition at that hospital.