ORANGE : Officer Says Tagger Tried to Shoot Him

A suspected tagger apparently fired a gun at an Orange police officer and escaped early Friday, police said.

The officer, patrolling Bristol Street near the Garden Grove Freeway, spotted someone vandalizing a wall at a construction site around 1 a.m., but when he drove closer the tagger ran to a truck and appeared to fire a gun at the officer, said Capt. Gene Hernandez.

“There was a loud pop and a muzzle flash,” Hernandez said. “We are still making an intensive search for traces of a weapon being fired.”

The police officer did not return fire but chased the truck until he lost sight of it within the Orange city limits.

No one was injured.

The shooting took place two days after the California Highway Patrol and Orange and Santa Ana police arrested five people on suspicion of tagging walls throughout Orange County.

The adults arrested were Silvia Perez, 42, on suspicion of selling narcotics and possession of stolen property; and her son, Ryan Perez, 18, on a charge of possession of stolen property and possession of marijuana.

Three 17-year-old juveniles in the same house were also arrested on various charges, including escaping from the Los Pinos Juvenile Detention Facility, robbery, theft, and violating a court order, Hernandez said.

Santa Ana Police Lt. Mike Foote said the taggers were identified through informants and then by police investigators.

“There were some confessions made, and they did cooperate with the investigators during the interview,” Foote said.

Two of the taggers are suspected of causing more than $50,000 in damage to freeway walls alone, said Foote.

Friday’s shooting “doesn’t appear related,” Hernandez said. “But I wouldn’t rule that out.”

Anna Nieto Gomez, a California Department of Transportation spokeswoman, said there has been a decrease in graffiti during the last four months in the county, but the city of Orange has seen an increase during the same time period from 22,000 square feet to 35,000 square feet worth of damage.