Carjackers Rob Off-Duty CHP Officer

An off-duty California Highway Patrol officer was the victim of a carjacking early Saturday morning, during which the thieves also took his service revolver and his wallet, authorities said.

Richard Marshall, 27, was forced to lie face down in the street at gunpoint by three men who apparently did not know he was a police officer, said Burbank Police Sgt. Janice Lowers. Marshall, who lives in Woodland Hills, was not wearing his uniform at the time.

The carjacking occurred about 5 a.m., just after he had parked his white Ford Explorer on Riverside Drive near the corner of Chavez Street, Lowers said. He was on his way to the nearby Griffith Park Equestrian Center to go riding.

As Marshall sat in his vehicle, a white car with three men pulled up beside him, she said. He believed the men wanted to ask him directions.

But a man in the passenger seat of the car got out, pointed a pistol at Marshall’s head and ordered the officer out of the car and to lay face down in the street, according to Lowers.

“He complied, which is probably why he is still alive,” she said.

The man took Marshall’s .40-caliber Smith & Wesson service revolver, CHP Officer Chris Burch said. His car keys and wallet containing his CHP identification were also taken.

“They probably didn’t know at the time of the robbery” that Marshall was an officer, Burch said. “But because his I.D. card was in his wallet, I’m sure they know now.”

Marshall, who has been a CHP officer for about 2 1/2 years, works out of West Los Angeles.