Assemblyman Brulte Hit in Arm by BB While on Golf Course

Assembly Minority Leader Jim Brulte was struck in the right arm by a BB fired by a teen-ager who evidently missed a tree that was his target, the San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Department reported Thursday.

Brulte, a Rancho Cucamonga Republican, was hit as he was on the 14th green of the Lake Arrowhead Country Club on Tuesday evening. The shot, investigated as an assault with a deadly weapon, was fired from a wooded area above the golf course.

Brulte’s fivesome included San Bernardino County Dist. Atty. Dennis Kottmeier and Phil Jaffe, publisher of the Lake Arrowhead newspaper, along with two businessmen active in GOP circles.

“It was an accidental thing,” said San Bernardino Sheriff’s Lt. Ray Rucker of the Twin Peaks substation. “He was just plunking at the trees. It’s not a good idea, because there are people on the golf course--and guess who was there this time.”

The Sheriff’s Department described the shooter as a 19-year-old Orange County resident but did not release his name. He was required to turn over the gun.

The shot broke Brulte’s skin. Brulte rushed toward where he thought the shot came from and confronted two youths who were there, although the pair denied having fired the shots.

“It was kind of a stupid mistake. Another eight inches and it could have hit him in the face,” said Jaffe, publisher of the Mountain News in Lake Arrowhead, who was standing next to Brulte when he was shot.

Brulte on Thursday was hesitant to discuss the incident, but was obviously angered about it. “I’d love to have a conversation with the fellow about why he would do something this stupid,” he said.

Brulte said he finished his round of golf, and was met at the end of the course by paramedics who treated the wound.