Officer Shoots Burglary Suspect

An off-duty Los Angeles police officer shot and critically wounded a man who allegedly was burglarizing a luxury car Thursday after the man attempted to seize the officer’s pistol, police said.

Officer Lou Contreras, 28, was riding in a private car with a friend at 3:40 p.m. when he saw a man break the car’s window near 8th Street and Hobart Boulevard, said Detective Elmer Pellegrino of the Police Department’s officer-involved shooting team.

Contreras drew his service revolver and confronted the man while telling his friend to call police, Pellegrino said.

The officer ordered Addison Hawthorne, 35, to lie face down on the ground. The suspect did so but rolled over, grabbed the officer’s gun and pulled him down, Pellegrino said.

A “spirited struggle” ensued with the suspect, whose name was not released, attempting to seize the officer’s gun, the detective said. Contreras never lost possession of his weapon and fired two rounds, striking the man in the chest and abdomen, Pellegrino said.

The wounded suspect was taken to Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, where he was reported in extremely critical condition, investigators said.