Chatsworth Man Shot; Car Crashes Into Truck

Amotorist was shot and critically wounded Tuesday after he reportedly refused to buy drugs from two men who approached him at an intersection in Sepulveda, Los Angeles police said.

Sean Danford, 23, of Chatsworth was being treated at Holy Cross Medical Center in Mission Hills for wounds to his chest and arm, police said.

Police discovered that Danford had been shot when they arrived at the scene of a 3 a.m. accident on Nordhoff Street under the San Diego Freeway overpass, Lt. Harvie Eubank said. Danford’s car had crashed into the front of a truck that had been turning off the freeway. The truck driver was not injured.

Danford told investigators that he had been shot four blocks away at Nordhoff and Columbus Avenue, Eubank said. The area is known by police for street-level drug dealing and is often referred to by dealers and buyers as “C Street” because cocaine is sold there, he said.

Danford told police that he had been driving from an old apartment in Sepulveda to his new home in Chatsworth when he came to a stop sign at Nordhoff and Columbus. He said two men approached his car and asked if he wanted to buy drugs, Eubank said.

When Danford said he did not want any drugs, one of the men pulled a gun and said, “I ought to shoot you,” Danford told police. He said he was then shot as he tried to speed away. Danford continued driving until he lost consciousness and crashed into the truck, police said.

No arrests had been made and police were attempting to verify Danford’s account of the shooting. Detective Sandra Palmer said no witnesses had been found.