Man Wounded in El Toro Shoot-Out : Suspect Shot by Deputies After Car Chase

A 24-year-old San Diego man was wounded during a shoot-out with sheriff’s deputies Tuesday after a chase on El Toro Road in El Toro.

Mark Anderson was taken to Mission Hospital Regional Medical Center in Mission Viejo, where he was reported in stable condition with two gunshot wounds. One bullet struck his left arm just above the elbow and the second bullet grazed his head, Sheriff’s Department Lt. Robert Rivas said.

Anderson and Shane Donald Critten, 18, of Hemet were fleeing officers in an allegedly stolen car when they crashed into a parked car and a sheriff’s car in an El Toro residential neighborhood on Raymond Way, just north of El Toro Road.

They got out of the car, and at least one of them fired at the approaching officers, Rivas said.

Anderson was hit by return fire and ran through an apartment complex. He was caught about two blocks away, Rivas said. Neither Critten nor the deputies were injured.

‘Driving Erratically’

The chase started at about 8 a.m. when deputies spotted Anderson and Critten “driving slowly and erratically” on Rancho Viejo Road near the border of San Juan Capistrano and Mission Viejo, Rivas said.

The pair took off when deputies approached the vehicle, which was heading north on Rancho Viejo. Deputies ran a license check on the car, a yellow, 1987 Camaro, and learned that it had been reported stolen in Riverside County.

The chase continued on Interstate 5. The suspects exited on Alicia Parkway. At that point the deputies lost sight of the Camaro briefly, but another deputy spotted it on El Toro Road and joined the chase.

The suspects turned onto Raymond Way and struck a car at the end of the cul-de-sac, Rivas said.

Marylou Lanis, who lives at the end of Raymond Way, said she heard sirens at about 8:15 a.m. and ran to her front window.

“I saw a yellow car speeding down the road with about four police cars after it,” she said. “It was a dead end, so he spun around and tried to get back out again, but the (sheriff’s) cars blocked him.”

Lanis said she had heard police chase cars in the area before and was not too concerned until the gunfire broke out.

“The guys got out of the car and started shooting and then the officers started shooting,” she said. “There was a blue light (flashes from the guns when fired) you could see because of the shots, at least 10 or 15. It was like fireworks out on the road. I couldn’t believe they were shooting like that.”

Lanis said she saw one of the suspects sprint toward an alley next to her home. Authorities said he was caught about two blocks away, on Dune Mear Road.

“As soon as the shooting stopped, people ran out into the street, I thought it was still too dangerous, though,” Lanis said.

Lanis was amazed that no bystanders were injured, she said.

“People were out walking, kids were off to school, I couldn’t believe it,” she said.

Rivas said authorities have not determined how many shots officers fired or whether they continued to fire at Anderson as he fled through the apartment complex. Rivas also could not say whether both suspects had guns or whether any weapon had been found.

Anderson is under guard at the hospital and Critten is being held at Orange County Jail. A Sheriff’s Department spokesman said charges against the two have not yet been determined. Following routine procedure, sheriff’s officials have called in the Orange County district attorney’s office to investigate the incident.