CHP Officer Shot to Death After Stopping Stolen Car

A California Highway Patrol officer who had stopped a stolen car was killed by a shotgun blast to the face Monday in the first slaying of a CHP officer in almost two years, officials said.

The death of Officer Richard Alan Maxwell, 33, a five-year veteran, also was believed to be the first homicide of a Bakersfield-based patrolman, said division Cmdr. John Anderson.

Maxwell was pronounced dead at a hospital about 45 minutes after getting involved in a confrontation when he stopped a stolen car in a residential area, said Cpl. Dave Carr, CHP watch commander.

“He did request backup,” Carr said. “When the backup officer got there, he put out the call: ‘Shots fired. Officer down. Need an ambulance.’ ”

Two people were arrested in connection with the shooting, Kern County sheriff’s spokeswoman Patty Chase said Monday night. Booked on suspicion of murder was Bruce Sons, 39, of Bakersfield. Also arrested in connection with the case was a 16-year-old Bakersfield resident, Chase said.

Sons allegedly was the driver of the car and the juvenile was the passenger, said Sheriff’s Sgt. Glenn Johnson. Sons’ father, Jim Sons, was detained for questioning but released, Johnson said.

The shooting occurred in the driveway of Jim Sons’ house, where a brief pursuit ended, Johnson said.

According to a 17-year-old who witnessed the confrontation, the CHP officer got into an argument with someone in Sons’ car and then “backed up to his car.”

At least one suspect went around the corner of a garage with the officer in pursuit, the witness said.

“After that, I heard seven, maybe nine gunshots,” he said.

Anderson and Patrolman Doug Brewer confirmed that some of the shots the witness heard were from Maxwell returning fire, but the officer apparently missed his assailants.

The last homicide of a CHP officer was July 23, 1992, when Fidel Aleman was gunned down in Los Angeles, said CHP spokeswoman Nancy Levitt. She said three officers died in traffic accidents last year while on duty.