Car Theft Suspect, 14, Shot Unintentionally, CHP Says

California Highway Patrol officials said Monday that a weekend shooting in which a 14-year-old boy was seriously wounded by a rookie officer was an accident that began as a routine traffic stop.

The boy, who lives in Los Angeles and whose name was withheld because of his age, was taken to Martin Luther King Jr./Drew Medical Center. He was in satisfactory condition Monday with a wound in the right cheek, hospital spokeswoman Pat Fullenweider said.

CHP Officer Donna Martinez, 25, told investigators that on Sunday afternoon she stopped a car driven by the boy in the unincorporated Athens area near Inglewood because the vehicle’s registration tags had expired.

When a computer check on the 1988 BMW convertible revealed that the car had been stolen a day earlier in Marina del Rey, Martinez radioed for backup, a CHP spokesman said.

Shortly after, Officer Kermit Tracy, 27, who graduated from the CHP Academy in July, arrived at the scene near the corner of Mariposa Avenue and Imperial Highway. Tracy drew his gun as he exited his patrol car, CHP spokesman Ernie Garcia said.

“As Officer Tracy raised the weapon, he unintentionally discharged one round,” Garcia said. “The top of the BMW was down . . . the (bullet) ended up striking the driver.”

The driver and a 14-year-old passenger, who was not injured, were not armed, Garcia said. “Basically, it was a normal stop,” he said. “The officers didn’t have any reason to think anything was out of the ordinary until the officer ran a computer check and found that the car had been stolen at gunpoint.”

The passenger was taken to Los Padrinos Juvenile Hall and booked on charges of possession of a stolen vehicle and suspicion of armed robbery, Garcia said.

The wounded boy faces similar charges, although he was not booked immediately, the spokesman said.

Tracy, who is stationed at the CHP’s South Los Angeles office, has been taken off duty, Garcia said, “not for disciplinary reasons, but due to the traumatic nature of the incident and his concern for the wounded suspect. He will be off the streets for the rest of the week.”

CHP officials declined to disclose additional details of the shooting until their investigation is completed later this week.