WEST HILLS : Suspect Shot by Police Is in Serious Condition

A suspected burglar, shot by police after allegedly attempting to run over an officer who was trying to arrest him in West Hills, remained hospitalized Tuesday in serious condition, authorities said.

When his condition permits, Hootan Safaee, 18, will be booked for residential burglary and assault with a deadly weapon on a police officer, said Los Angeles Police Department spokesman Lt. John Dunkin. Safaee was being treated at Holy Cross Medical Center for a bullet wound in the shoulder.

Plainclothes officers from the LAPD’s elite anti-crime task force, known as COBRA, were conducting a surveillance operation Monday involving Safaee--who they believed was a burglar in the West San Fernando Valley--when they allegedly saw him burglarize a home about 4 p.m., Dunkin said.

The officers waited until the burglary was complete, then asked other officers to assist them in arresting Safaee as he left the scene in his car with an unidentified male passenger. Safaee put his car in reverse and accelerated, striking the officer, who fired one round at Safaee’s car, police said.