Police Want Officer Charged in O.C. Shooting

Police asked Orange County prosecutors Wednesday to bring criminal charges against an off-duty Long Beach police officer who allegedly shot and wounded a motorist during a heated traffic dispute.

Citing unspecified “discrepancies” in veteran Long Beach Patrol Officer Alan B. Ice’s account of the Saturday shooting, Fountain Valley Police Chief Elvin Miali said, “We believe there is evidence that this matter was perpetrated by Mr. Ice, that Mr. Ice shot the person, and it looks like it was assault with a deadly weapon.”

The assault charge is a felony that carries a maximum four-year sentence in state prison. Fountain Valley police gave their recommendation Wednesday to the Orange County district attorney’s office, Miali said, but prosecutors have not decided whether to pursue a case against Ice, 45, of Fountain Valley.

“In Orange County, this type of incident has been very rare,” Chief Assistant Dist. Atty. Maurice L. Evans said.

While scores of law enforcement officers--both on and off duty--have been involved in local shootings in recent years, Orange County prosecutors have filed criminal charges in only one other incident. Similarly, that case also stemmed from a traffic dispute involving an officer who worked outside the county.

Ice could not be reached for comment Wednesday.

But according to Long Beach police union officials who have interviewed him, Ice maintains that he shot 36-year-old Neil Cramer of Santa Ana accidentally--apparently while trying to activate the safety lock on his personal handgun. He has also told union officials that he thought he saw the other motorist reach for something--perhaps a weapon.

Cramer’s attorney, Dennis Minna of Newport Beach, said his client was unarmed during the incident. He said Cramer plans to sue Ice and the Long Beach Police Department and will be able to produce several witnesses to show that it was Ice who provoked the confrontation that occurred in Fountain Valley about noon Saturday.

According to Minna’s account, Ice became angry after Cramer swerved his camper truck to avoid a fallen bicyclist near the intersection of Warner Avenue and Ward Street, cutting off the officer’s vehicle. The officer then pulled alongside Cramer, who was riding with his fiancee and 11-year-old daughter, and called him a derogatory name, which sparked a shouting match, the lawyer asserted.

As Cramer drove his truck through the intersection, he was shot in the left shoulder, Minna said.

The victim remained hospitalized Wednesday at the Fountain Valley Regional Hospital and Medical Center with a single bullet lodged in the left side of his chest, about 2 inches from his heart, his doctor said. But his condition appeared improved as a tube was removed from his chest, and he may be discharged from the hospital by the weekend.

Dr. Santosh K. Mohanty said the bullet lodged near several vital organs--including the heart, the aorta, the spleen and the diaphragm--but missed all of them. “You couldn’t have planned (the bullet path) any better. . . . He’s extremely lucky,” Mohanty said.

A self-employed carpenter and cabinetmaker from Santa Ana, Cramer plans to make his first public statements about the case from the hospital today, his attorney said. Deluged with media requests from around the country, Cramer finds himself at the center of a case that also has raised allegations that Ice received special treatment because he was a police officer.

Authorities acknowledged Wednesday that they refused to name Ice as the suspect in the attack for three days or to take him into custody immediately after the shooting. But they defended the actions.

“I know there are many citizens who are concerned about our handling of this case because it’s a police officer, and is there a double standard, but I can assure them there is not,” said Deputy Dist. Atty. Guy N. Ormes, who is handling the case. “We are looking at this case with the same care we look at all cases, and the fact that he’s a police officer doesn’t enter in.”

Ormes said that Ice’s “longtime commitment to the community” as a police officer in Long Beach for 21 years and his cooperation with authorities after the shooting made him a low risk to flee the area.

These factors “certainly weigh in the favor of not arresting somebody (immediately), especially realizing that if an arrest were made, he’s only going to be released from custody in a short time” on bail or on his own recognizance, the prosecutor said.

Ormes said a decision on whether to bring criminal charges against Ice may still be three weeks off, and he declined to comment specifically on the Fountain Valley police recommendation on the filing of an assault with a deadly weapon charge.

“We obviously don’t want to rush into something that we’re later going to regret,” he said.

But Ormes did say there appears little chance that Ice will face the more serious charge of attempted murder, which Cramer’s lawyer says should be considered.

“The specific intent of attempted murder seems to be grossly lacking,” Ormes said. “I don’t see any evidence to back that up.”

In an incident that is similar to the one involving Ice, Gregory Cook, an off-duty Los Angeles County sheriff’s deputy, allegedly chased down and shot a motorist in Seal Beach last year after the driver clipped his motorcycle on the road.

The motorist, Reginald Payne of Costa Mesa, pulled over after Cook warned that he was a police officer. But then Cook allegedly shoved Payne against his car and screamed at him. After Payne broke free, Cook then allegedly chased him on his motorcycle and fired five rounds as Payne climbed a fence. He was struck in the foot and the leg, officials said.

Cook is set to go to trial later this month in Orange County Superior Court on charges of assault and unlawful use of a firearm.

The Long Beach Police Department has assigned Ice to a desk job pending the outcome of the shooting investigation.

But Long Beach police officials said they were caught off-guard Wednesday by the recommendation from the Fountain Valley police.

“I’ll be darned. This is the first I’ve learned of it,” Long Beach Police Cmdr. Ray Jordan said.

Long Beach Police Officers Assn. president Paul Chastain said he still believes that the shooting was accidental.

“You have two clean-cut guys in a stupid dispute; why would a 20-year veteran of the force shoot him on purpose?” Chastain asked. “It was bad judgment on everyone’s part.”

Told of the prospect of criminal charges against her estranged husband, Sung Ja Ice of Fountain Valley became emotional. “He was a good family man. I didn’t know he was in such trouble,” she said, her eyes welling with tears.

Minna, the lawyer for Cramer, said the Fountain Valley police recommendation places even greater doubt on Ice’s account of the incident.

“I’m not surprised (by the recommendation),” Minna said. “I find it incredible that this officer is claiming that the gun accidentally went off while he was trying to fix the safety.”

Minna also said he has been contacted by a local man who says he witnessed the event and can back up Cramer’s version of events leading up to the shooting. The man says he saw Cramer swerve to avoid the cyclist, triggering shouts from Ice, according to the lawyer.

The lawyer said he still plans to pursue a civil suit even if criminal charges are filed. A criminal charge, he said, “doesn’t change the bullet, it doesn’t change the pain. . . . And it doesn’t change the fact that he has suffered this direct victimization.”

Times staff writers Lily Dizon, Jerry Hicks and Roxanna Kopetman contributed to this report.