2 L.A. Men Charged After Gun Battle With Secret Service : Crime: Two undercover agents are wounded during attempt to buy counterfeit bills.

Two Los Angeles men arrested in connection with a shoot-out that left two U.S. Secret Service agents wounded during an attempted undercover buy of $485,000 in fake $50 bills were booked Friday on suspicion of attempted murder of a police officer--a state crime, authorities said.

Because federal officers were involved, the shooting would normally be handled as a federal case. However, the men were being held on the state charge at the request of federal authorities, who want more time to prepare their own case, said Richard Griffin, Secret Service agent-in-charge.

“We have the luxury of time to put together whatever federal charges need to be brought,” Griffin said. “These people are not going anywhere.”

Federal authorities declined to be specific about what charges they are looking at, although counterfeiting U.S. currency and attempted murder of a federal officer are two charges that could be filed as early as next week, they said.

Ignacio Padilla, 44, who was shot and critically wounded in the incident Thursday night at a four-unit apartment complex in the unincorporated Florence district, and Oliveros Orosco, 26, were being held without bail pending further investigation, Griffin said.

One of the two federal agents wounded in the incident, identified only as a 37-year-old male, sustained a bullet wound in the foot and was being treated at Brea Community Hospital, a spokeswoman for the hospital said.

The other agent, identified as a 30-year-old woman, was treated and released for a graze wound in the leg at County-USC Medical Center, authorities said.

The shooting broke out shortly after another Secret Service agent--who was trying to negotiate a “buy” of “poor quality” counterfeit money for about 8 cents to 10 cents on the dollar--decided to end the discussion and arrest the men, both of whom were armed, Griffin said.

“An altercation ensued,” Griffin said. “There was some grappling with a suspect who tried to flee. It progressed from there.”

Padilla came out of the apartment in the 6900 block of South Compton Avenue and fired one round from a handgun at backup Secret Service agents and sheriff’s deputies who were waiting outside, said Patrick Hunter of the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department. The other officers returned fire with handguns and at least one shotgun, he said.

The two injured agents, who were wearing protective flak jackets, were among those waiting outside the building, according to Sheriff’s Sgt. Craig Boyett.

It was unclear whether the federal agents were shot by the suspects or by backup officers, Griffin said.

“At this point, we are not in a position to discuss that because some of the people involved in this have not been interviewed because of their injuries,” Griffin said.

Beyond that, he added, “when you are dealing with a shotgun it is hard to say where every single pellet wound up.”

Padilla, who was shot in the arm, hip and leg, was taken to Martin Luther King Jr./Drew Medical Center where he was listed in critical but stable condition after undergoing surgery Friday morning, Boyett said.

Orosco, who was not injured in the incident, dropped his handgun as officers entered the apartment to arrest him, Boyett said.

The Secret Service’s office in Los Angeles has been the “busiest in the nation” in terms of counterfeit money seized during the last two years, Griffin said.

“In the most recent fiscal year, there was $17 million worth of counterfeit currency seized in the Los Angeles area,” Griffin said. “That reflects 25% of the total counterfeit currency seizures nationwide.”