Man Held After Car Strikes Officer During Chase : Crime: Detectives say Oscar Tejeda backed a stolen car into a police motorcycle. He was being sought in a homicide.

A Van Nuys man, sought by authorities in a homicide case, drove a stolen car into a motorcycle officer during a pursuit and was later shot in the ear while running from detectives, Los Angeles police said Tuesday.

Oscar Tejeda, 20, was being held on suspicion of the attempted murder of a police officer, said Lt. Don Hartwell. He was being treated in the jail ward at County-USC Medical Center for the gunshot wound and digestive difficulties caused from swallowing drugs while fleeing police, Hartwell said.

“He claimed he ingested a bag of cocaine,” Hartwell said.

Tejeda is under investigation in a recent slaying, but Detective Steve Fisk would release no details in the homicide case.

The injured motorcycle officer, Officer Manuel Arujo, 35, was resting at home Tuesday after he was treated for minor injuries.

“He was thrown off the motorcycle. He had a bruised left thigh, a swollen kneecap and some abrasions,” said Sgt. Glenn Wiggins, Arujo’s supervisor. “He’s real lucky. He got out of the way as best he could.”

Arujo, a 12-year veteran assigned to Valley Traffic Division, was injured while following a car driven by Tejeda on Monday night, Hartwell said.

“He wasn’t hurt as bad as we thought,” Hartwell said. “He was struck by a car backing up at high speed. He could have been seriously injured.”

The incident began about 8:10 p.m. Monday when two homicide detectives spotted a stolen car driven by Tejeda at Saticoy Street and Laurel Canyon Boulevard, Hartwell said.

The detectives alerted two motorcycle officers, Arujo and Officer Allen Pagano, and told them to follow the vehicle.

At Victory Boulevard and Sunnyslope Avenue, the driver stopped, then backed up the car quickly, hitting Arujo’s motorcycle and knocking the officer to the pavement, Hartwell said.

The stolen car then sped off with the detectives pursuing in an unmarked car. The driver jumped out of the stolen car at Greenbush Avenue and Vanowen Street and began running, Hartwell said.

As the suspect tried to climb a cyclone fence, Detective John Edwards fired at him three times, Hartwell said. The wounded man fell to the pavement and ran into a parking area. A police dog later found Tejeda hiding under a vehicle, Hartwell said.