SANTA ANA : Off-Duty Deputy Shoots Driver, 18

An off-duty Orange County sheriff’s deputy shot and wounded an 18-year-old woman after seeing a passenger in her car allegedly open fire on the occupants of another vehicle on First Street on Monday, authorities said.

The incident, which took place shortly before 7 p.m., was the fourth officer-involved shooting in Orange County within five days. The other shootings occurred in Westminster, La Palma and Santa Ana.

Shortly after Monday’s shooting, Soda Chan Chhum of Westminster was arrested in the emergency room of Fountain Valley Regional Hospital and Medical Center, where she had gone for treatment of a wounded left shoulder and left leg. She is being held at Santa Ana Detention Facility on suspicion of assault with a deadly weapon, Santa Ana police Lt. Robert Helton said.

On Tuesday morning, police arrested a 17-year-old male from Midway City who leaned out of the passenger window of the car driven by Chhum and pointed a gun at the deputy, Helton said. The teen-ager, whose name was not released because of his age, did not fire at the deputy and apparently was unaware that he was an off-duty law enforcement official, Helton said.

“The deputy thought he was going to be shot,” Helton said. “He fired several rounds at the suspect’s vehicle as it was coming past him.”

The incident began as the unidentified deputy, an eight-year veteran of the Sheriff’s Department, was driving westbound on First Street between Newhope and Euclid streets. He came up behind two vehicles that had appeared to be chasing each other and were stopped at a traffic signal, Helton said.

“The 17-year-old gets out and goes over to the other car and shoots into it,” Helton said. “The car that was shot into drove away, so the deputy focused his attention on the other vehicle.”

The deputy called 911 on his car phone and began following the car occupied by Chhum and the 17-year-old. The deputy told police that the car made a U-turn and came past him, heading eastbound on First Street. As the vehicle raced past him, the deputy fired, Helton said.

Police have not located the 17-year-old’s gun, Helton said. Nor have they found the occupants of the car that the teen-ager allegedly fired into.

“No one has come forward, so it’s doubtful that anyone was struck,” Helton said. “But you never know. If it was a minor wound, they might not have sought medical attention.”

The teen-ager is being held at Juvenile Hall on suspicion of assault with a deadly weapon.

The shooting was the latest in a string of officer-involved shootings that began Thursday, when two suspects were shot, and one killed, in separate incidents by police in Westminster and La Palma. A third officer-involved shooting took place in Santa Ana on Saturday.

The district attorney’s office is investigating all the shootings, a requirement under a county policy adopted in 1985.