Suspect Not Charged With Shooting Officer

A man who was suspected of shooting and wounding a police officer was charged Friday with three misdemeanors, none of which involve assault on a peace officer.

Police now believe that Officer Sam Ward, 31, may have been shot by fellow officers while chasing the suspect through a South Los Angeles neighborhood Wednesday night.

Ward, an 8-year department veteran, was listed in good condition Friday at County-USC Medical Center, where he was taken for treatment of bullet wounds to his back and right leg.

The suspect, Darren Davis, 20, was charged by the city attorney’s office with one count each of reckless driving, resisting arrest and driving without a license. He is scheduled to be arraigned in Municipal Court Tuesday.

The city attorney’s office filed the misdemeanor charges after the case was referred to it by the district attorney’s office, which declined to file felony charges of assault on a peace officer against Davis.

Officials were not immediately available to say whether Davis had been cleared outright of allegations he shot Ward.

Three other suspects arrested with Davis were identified as Johnny Jacko, 19, Jason Johnson, 18, and Johnson’s 16-year-old brother, whose name was not released because of his age.

It was not immediately known whether any charges were filed against them.

Ward was shot during a confrontation between five officers and Davis, who had fled from a car with three other men after crashing into another car at 81st Street and Towne Avenue about 8 p.m. Wednesday, Police Lt. William Hall said.