Man Shot in Altercation Testifies Against Ex-Officer : Courts: He says he feared for his life when off-duty Long Beach policeman fired at him after a traffic dispute.

A 37-year-old carpenter testified Wednesday that he feared for his life when he was shot and wounded by an off-duty Long Beach police officer after a Fountain Valley traffic dispute turned violent.

Santa Ana resident Neil Cramer told a Superior Court jury that he exchanged angry words and obscene gestures with Alan B. Ice, 47, of Fountain Valley at a stoplight on Sept. 28, 1991.

Cramer said he spat at Ice’s Jeep as he drove away and then turned to see that Ice had driven up alongside Cramer’s camper and was pointing a gun at him.

“I looked over just in time to hear a pow, “ Cramer testified, adding that blood spurted out of his shoulder. “I said ‘the (expletive) just shot me!’ .” Cramer has fully recovered from his wounds.

Ice faces felony charges of assault with a firearm and shooting into an occupied vehicle. The 21-year Long Beach Police Department veteran was fired for his role in the shooting.

Defense attorney John D. Barnett said the shooting was an accident that occurred when Ice’s car lurched forward and the weapon discharged. Barnett said Ice grabbed his gun only after seeing Cramer reach for an object that he suspected was a weapon.

The incident began when Cramer swerved his camper truck out of his lane on Ward Street and into Ice’s lane, to avoid a boy who had fallen off his bicycle. Ice began beeping his car horn at Cramer, and when the two vehicles reached a traffic light the men began yelling at each other.

“(Ice) said, ‘What do you have in your hands?’ and (Cramer) said, ‘Why don’t you come over here and take a look?’ ” Cramer’s girlfriend, Elaine Lara, testified Tuesday. Lara was in Cramer’s vehicle at the time of the shooting.

Lara and Autumn Cramer, the victim’s 12-year-old daughter, also testified Tuesday that they gave differing statements to police about whether Cramer was attempting to arm himself during the dispute.

Lara testified that Cramer ordered her to grab something from the back of the camper truck for protection during the argument. But Lara said she did not originally tell police that she retrieved a hammer because she feared she would “get into trouble.”

Lara has filed a separate civil lawsuit against Ice. She said that she hopes to pay Cramer’s medical bills by winning damages.

Cramer’s daughter, Autumn, also testified Tuesday that Lara grabbed a hammer from the back of the truck. Autumn said she originally told police that her father grabbed the hammer but after thinking it through realized that her statement was wrong.