Fugitives Who Shot 3 Are Convicted by Jury : Crime: Interrupted while planning a robbery, they wounded a sheriff’s deputy, then terrorized a neighborhood in Huntington Beach.

Two young men were convicted Tuesday for their roles in a November, 1992, shootout that terrorized a Huntington Beach neighborhood and wounded three people, including an Orange County sheriff’s deputy.

The incident began when four men were interrupted by the deputy as they sat in a car in the Bolsa Chica Ecological Preserve planning a home-invasion robbery. At least two of them opened fire on the deputy, who suffered injuries to an eye when the bullets shot out his car’s windows, said Deputy Dist. Atty. Randolph J. Pawloski.

“It looked like the Bonnie and Clyde death car,” the prosecutor said. “It’s a miracle no one was killed.”

The gunmen fled to Huntington Beach, where two of them took refuge in a condominium complex, sparking a massive manhunt. One man who resisted turning over his car keys to one of the fugitives was shot twice, Pawloski said.

An Orange County Superior Court jury convicted Aerick Bacon, 19, of Huntington Beach of several charges, including attempted second-degree murder and assault with a deadly weapon. Prosecutors were seeking attempted first-degree murder convictions.

Jurors convicted Keith Gonzalez, 20, of Garden Grove of conspiracy to commit robbery, attempted second-degree murder and assault charges but acquitted him of attempted first-degree murder and robbery.

Ryan Mones, 17, of Huntington Beach committed suicide at the complex rather than face arrest. The fourth man, Travis Claude, 20, of Long Beach, pleaded guilty and testified at his accomplices’ trial.

Gonzalez’s defense attorney did not return phone calls Tuesday. Defense attorney Paul Meyer, who defended Bacon along with attorney Edward P. George, said jurors had a difficult job deciding an emotional case involving a law enforcement officer.

“This case has been a tragedy for all concerned, including not only the young man who took his own life and the deputy who suffered the incident, but also the families of the three young men involved,” Meyer said.

The defendants will be sentenced July 19. Gonzalez faces just over 12 years in prison and Bacon faces 21 years in prison, Pawloski said.