Gun Battle Delays Police Officer’s Arrival at His 10th Anniversary Party

The evening began simply enough: Sgt. Joe Battle was on his way to meet friends to celebrate his 10th anniversary on the Long Beach Police Department. Before dawn, however, Battle had braved a gunfight and saved the life of a motel maintenance worker. All while he was off-duty.

“Here I was, out being Joe Citizen, and I got into my first shootout,” he said recently, just before receiving the Police Department’s highest honor, the Medal of Valor.

When the shooting was over, about a dozen rounds had been fired. No one was hurt, Battle said, but several cars and the motel building were damaged. “He was real heroic,” fellow Officer Joe Anderson said.

But Battle, 32, demurred.

“I’m surprised I’m getting all this attention,” he said. “Because, basically, I was just doing my job.”

Battle was off the clock late one night in August when the incident occurred.

He had parked his car in the Days Inn parking lot on Long Beach Boulevard and started toward the restaurant across the street, where he was meeting his friends. As Battle passed the motel laundry room, he heard a man whisper, “Get down!”

Battle saw a man standing in the laundry room doorway, a bandanna over his face up to his eyes and a sweat shirt hood pulled over his forehead.

He asked a couple in the motel parking lot to call Los Angeles County Sheriff’s deputies while he ran to his car to get his gun, badge and handcuffs. He returned to the parking lot and shouted at the men in the laundry room: “Police officer! Don’t move! Stay inside.”

The door shut. Then a head poked out a couple of times. “The third time, he started shooting five or six shots in my direction,” Battle said. As Battle returned the fire, he saw two men break the side window of the laundry room and crawl through it.

The men ran toward a nearby tree nursery. Battle, meanwhile, found a motel employee wedged under a stairwell, tied at the ankles and hands. His teeth had been knocked out and he was gagged.

The employee credits Battle with saving his life. “I thought I was going to die,” he said. Because he fears for his safety, he asked to remain anonymous, although he plans to testify in court against a suspect, who was captured later that night. Two others escaped. Investigators think that they have left the state, Battle said.

As soon as Battle realized that he was probably dealing with people “who didn’t care about human life,” the decision to help was an easy one, he said.

“I had a real traditional upbringing,” he said. “I was a Boy Scout, an altar boy. Anybody brought up like that is going to be more inclined to save someone else. It wouldn’t have occurred to me not to get involved.”

Battle, a Lynwood resident, said he was raised in a family where public service is taken for granted. His father, a Vietnam war veteran, works for the government, as does his mother, sister and wife.

“My parents taught me if you do a job, do it well. . . . I had to defend my life and someone else’s life,” Battle said. “That made me realize how important this job is. That’s what we sign up for--the good guys versus the bad guys.’

Battle has just one wish for the future: “If I never have to fire my gun again,” he said, “I’ll be happy.”

Norwalk City Councilwoman Judith Brennan was selected to serve on the Los Angeles County Citizens Economy and Efficiency Committee. Appointed by Supervisor Deane Dana, Brennan will work with other committee members to improve the county’s economy, efficiency and effectiveness.

Longtime Long Beach community activist Dorothy Wiltse will chair the Memorial Heart Institute Executive Board. Affiliated with Long Beach Memorial Medical Center, the heart institute provides comprehensive cardiac care for patients. Wiltse has worked on various hospital boards for nearly two decades. She has volunteered with Junior League of Long Beach, Long Beach Cancer League, St. Luke’s Episcopal Church, Long Beach Opera Guild and Los Angeles Medical Assn.

Markeisha Hill, 14, of Compton, was honored recently as one of Southern California’s outstanding volunteers. The YWCA recognized Markeisha for her work in the community through the YWCA and various other charitable organizations. Markeisha also speaks publicly about the concerns of youth and has volunteered for projects aimed at helping teen-agers in South-Central Los Angeles.

Undine Wildman of Long Beach and Loretta Bennettof Seal Beach were named finalists in local run-offs for the 1993 Ms. Senior America of California Pageant, sponsored by FHP Healthcare. Wildman, the fourth-place winner, volunteers with Friends of the Long Beach Public Library, Long Beach Symphony Guild and Long Beach/Yokkaichi Japan Sister City Committee. Bennett, second-place winner, founded a beauty supply business. The pageant features women 60 or older modeling evening gowns, sharing philosophies of life and performing.

Material for this column may be mailed to People, Los Angeles Times, 12750 Center Court, Suite 150, Cerritos 90701, phone (310) 924-8600.