Man Arrested in Shooting at Woman and Police

A motorcyclist was arrested and booked Friday for firing a gun at a woman and then firing shots at a Los Angeles Police Department helicopter that was tracking him, police said.

Walter Paul Ouellet, 30, was taken into custody without incident and booked on suspicion of assault with a deadly weapon on a peace officer, police said. “He didn’t hit anyone,” said one officer, “but he tried his best.”

No one was injured in the incidents, which started at about 11 p.m. Thursday. Witnesses told police they saw a man on a motorcycle fire a shot from a handgun at a woman on Sepulveda Boulevard near Plummer Avenue, and then take off on his bike. The woman called 911.

When the A-Star police helicopter followed Ouellet’s motorcycle, he drove into a residential neighborhood, got off the bike and fled, said Officer George Gonzalez, an Air Support Division officer who was on board the helicopter at the time.

“We saw him pull out a handgun from his waistband and fire two shots at us as he fled,” said Gonzalez. Police in the helicopter saw Ouellet try to hide next to a house, and directed several squad cars to the location. He said Ouellet then fired at one of the officers on the ground and fled back toward his motorcycle. He tried to get on and start it, but the bike fell on him, Gonzalez said.

Ouellet then tossed a .45 caliber Glock handgun into the street, walked 15 feet to a sidewalk and laid down so police could arrest him, Gonzalez said. “He saw that he was surrounded and threw his gun down and gave up,” he said.