Man Seized After 2 Gunfights in 1 Night

An off-duty sheriff’s sergeant driving home from a gathering with his wife escaped injury early Sunday during a gun battle in the Florence area with an alleged would-be robber who was later captured after a second shoot-out with other deputies, authorities said.

Michael Turner, 34, of Los Angeles, was arrested on suspicion of attempted murder of a law enforcement officer and attempted armed robbery, said Sgt. Joaquin Herran, a Sheriff’s Department spokesman.

Turner was being held without bail at County-USC Medical Center’s jail ward, where he was treated for three gunshot wounds to a leg, deputies said.

The sheriff’s sergeant and his wife, who were not identified, were driving home about 1 a.m. when a fast-moving car approached them from behind. When they pulled over to let it pass, the other car also pulled over and the driver got out and approached them, Herran said.

“We don’t believe he knew it was a police officer,” Herran said.

When the sergeant saw the man was carrying a handgun, he pulled out his weapon and shots were fired, Herran said. It was not known if the gunman was wounded then. The assailant returned to his car and sped off and the sergeant ran to a nearby house to call police.

Deputies in a patrol car spotted the fleeing gunman five minutes later and chased him for eight blocks before the man’s car crashed into a wall, Herran said. The gunman tried to run from the area, firing at the pursuing deputies. They returned fire and wounded the man, who was then captured, Herran said.

Herran said the car that Turner was driving was reported stolen in Los Angeles on Saturday.