Man Badly Wounded in Gunfight With Police : Violence: Officers had surrounded his apartment minutes after his wife told them he had been driving a stolen vehicle.

A man whose wife told authorities that he had been driving a stolen vehicle was seriously injured in a gun battle with police who surrounded his apartment minutes after receiving the report, police said Tuesday.

Jan Michael Jastremski, 51, was listed in stable condition in the intensive care unit at Mission Hospital Regional Medical Center in Mission Viejo after being shot in the stomach and left foot Monday night by officers who said Jastremski had confronted them with a handgun. There were no other injuries.

San Clemente Police Sgt. Jim Thomas said the altercation began moments after Jastremski’s wife, Maria, arrived at the Police Department driving a 1989 Jeep Cherokee. She told police she believed the vehicle had been stolen two years earlier.

Thomas said investigators were not certain why the woman had suddenly decided to report the matter to the police.

“They weren’t getting along because there were some marital problems between the two of them,” Thomas said. “We’re assuming that he must have mentioned (that it was a stolen vehicle) to her at one point.”

Thomas said Jastremski has not been arrested or charged. Both the San Clemente police and the Orange County district attorney’s office, which routinely investigates shootings involving police officers, are continuing their investigations. Thomas would not say who fired first in the exchange of shots, but confirmed that Jastremski’s weapon had been used.

Thomas said Jastremski was not under guard at the hospital. “His foot is heavily taped and he’s totally out of commission,” Thomas said. “He’s not going to be going anywhere soon.”

Neighbors said the Jastremski couple fought often, and that Maria Jastremski had filed complaints against her husband with the police.

Monday night, Thomas said, Maria Jastremski apparently threatened to disclose the secret that the Jeep had been stolen. Jan reportedly told her that “if she did go to the police he had a gun and that he would not be taken alive,” Thomas said.

Despite the warning, she went to the station about 7:45 p.m., told police about the vehicle and that her husband was alone in their apartment at 219 Avenida Lobeiro.

After a police check disclosed that the vehicle had been taken from the Jim Click Jeep dealership in Irvine two years ago, officers surrounded the apartment building, which has three units. Thomas said that when a police dispatcher called the Jastremski residence and asked a male voice for Jan Jastremski, the man replied that Jastremski was not there.

Moments later, the lights in the apartment were switched off and Jan Jastremski climbed out a back window, Thomas said. Gunfire began about 7:50 and lasted about a minute, neighbors said.

Jan Jastremski was hit in his stomach and left foot, Thomas said, adding that police have Jastremski’s .357-caliber revolver. The Jeep was also impounded.

The shooting broke the quiet of the neighborhood of single-family homes and apartment complexes that overlook San Clemente State Beach. On Tuesday morning, residents were reminded of the shooting by several bullet holes in the stucco walls of their building and the police “Do Not Cross” ribbons that were still tied to a tree.

Steve and Simone Parker, who live in an apartment directly above the Jastremskis’, said they feared for their lives when they heard the gunshots.

“I was petrified,” said Simone Parker, 26. The police “told us to hit the ground and not move. It was horrible. It got too severe for words.”

“This is normally a very peaceful neighborhood,” said Cassandra Spence, who said she watched the shooting take place from an upstairs bedroom window in her apartment building across Avenida Lobeiro. Her building apparently was hit by two bullets during the gunfight.

The Parkers and other neighbors, however, said they were not surprised that it was Jan Jastremski who was involved in the shooting, noting that they had reported his “erratic behavior” to police several times.

The Parkers said they had called the police about Jastremski at least five times during the past eight months because he had threatened to injure them and their friends.

Simone Parker said that during the past week Maria Jastremski ran up to the Parkers’ apartment after an argument with her husband. She said Jastremski pleaded for help, asking her to call the police because she feared for her life.

Sgt. Thomas confirmed that officers responded to the Jastremskis’ residence last week “to give her some assistance to leave the apartment,” but was unable to immediately confirm the other possible complaints.

The Parkers said Maria Jastremski had asked police last week to take her to the Polish Embassy, saying she had only been in the country for about a year and wanted to leave.

“He wouldn’t let her speak to anyone or have friends,” Simone Parker said. “She was terrified. She’s a very nice woman and I feel sorry for her.”