Oxnard Officer Fatally Shoots Suspect : Crime: Van Nuys man was hit four times. Police are investigating whether he fired during the foot chase.

A rookie Oxnard police officer fatally shot a suspected car thief after a foot chase early Monday through yards and over fences in a quiet residential neighborhood, police said.

Officer Patrick Dolan, who joined the department nine months ago, fired several shots from his 9-millimeter Beretta at Alfonso Bravo, 20, of Van Nuys, authorities said. Bravo, who was reportedly armed with a large-caliber handgun, was struck by bullets in the back and side, police said.

Ventura County Chief Deputy Coroner Jim Wingate said Bravo was struck four times and died of multiple gunshot wounds.

Police said they were investigating whether Bravo fired at Dolan during the foot chase. Dolan, 29, was not injured.

The incident marks the fourth time in about six months that Oxnard police officers have been involved in a fatal shooting. Two of the three others have been called justified by the Ventura County district attorney’s office, and the third is still being investigated.

Police said the chase began about 1:30 a.m. as a routine traffic stop on Victoria Avenue north of Channel Islands Boulevard. Dolan attempted to pull over a 1988 dark blue Mustang for a traffic violation. The driver refused to stop and, after checking with dispatchers, Dolan was told that the car was reported stolen from Hollywood last week, authorities said.

Dolan followed the car a few blocks north and onto Wooley Road, where Bravo crashed it into a block wall in the 3200 block, police said.

Bravo bolted out of the car and took off on foot, with Dolan in pursuit, police said. The pair scrambled over several fences in the residential neighborhood and, a few minutes later, in the 3200 block of Taffrail Lane, Dolan shot Bravo, authorities said.

A fully loaded 9-millimeter Taurus was found near the victim at the scene, police said.

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Cady said the safety mechanism on the gun was released and the gun was cocked. “If the guy didn’t fire a shot, he was getting ready to,” he said.

In an initial interview with investigators, Dolan told detectives that he saw the suspect’s gun during the foot chase but did not believe that the suspect had fired at him, Cady said.

Investigators estimated that Dolan was no more than 10 yards away from the suspect when he fired, Cady said.

“In terms of a shooting incident, the officer has the power to protect himself from deadly force,” Cady said. “The officer has to perceive a threat.”

Neighbors said they woke to the sounds of shouting and feet running down their normally quiet street, followed by shots. Some residents said they glimpsed police through their curtains but did not see the man officers were chasing.

“I heard lots of yelling, and then I heard firecrackers, or I guess they were shots,” said Jamie Jackson, who lives on Taffrail.

One man, who asked that his name not be used, said he called 911 after hearing gunfire.

“They were right here, in my driveway,” he said. “Shouting and yelling.”

Told that police were already on the scene, the man and his family huddled on the floor inside the house in case stray bullets came through the windows. He said he thought that he heard someone climbing over his fence--a wooden structure roughly seven feet high--after the shots were fired. The suspected car thief died in the front yard after paramedics failed to resuscitate him, police said.

“I just thank God he didn’t jump through the window,” the resident said.

On Monday morning, the resident was in his front yard, cleaning up a few traces of blood and repairing a floodlight that illuminates his driveway. He said police told him that they broke it deliberately during the chase so that the fleeing man would not be able to see the officers.

Although he heard shouts from the police, the resident said he saw no sign that the suspected car thief was willing to surrender.

“At no time did he yell that he gave up,” the man said.

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Police said Dolan has been placed on paid administrative leave during the initial investigation. The district attorney’s office will also conduct an investigation and decide whether to prosecute Dolan in the shooting.

In a brief interview Monday, Dolan said it was the first time in his career that he had been involved in a shooting, but declined to comment further.

Sgt. Charles Dunham, who is helping investigate the shooting for the Police Department, said Oxnard police officers have been involved in an unusually high number of shootings the past six months.

“There’s a lot of guns out there,” Dunham said. “The criminals are carrying more guns now during the commission of a crime.”