Reseda : Robbery Suspect Must Take HIV Test

A Reseda man wounded in a gunfight with Los Angeles police in Newbury Park must undergo a blood test for the AIDS virus because officers were exposed to his blood, a Ventura County judge ruled Monday.

Municipal Judge Vincent J. O’Neill Jr. delayed an arraignment for Robert Wayne Campbell on robbery and murder charges until July 24, but ordered the AIDS test at the request of prosecutors.

“Officers helped remove Campbell from the car,” Deputy Dist. Atty. Donald Glynn said in making the AIDS-test motion. “One of the officers got blood on his hands.”

Campbell, 31, is hospitalized with gunshot wounds and unable to attend courtroom proceedings, his attorney said.

He survived a June 26 shootout with Los Angeles police officers assigned to the Special Investigations Section. The officers said they followed Campbell and Daniel Joseph Soly, 27, from Los Angeles to Newbury Park, where police said they witnessed the pair rob a liquor store.

The ensuing shootout left Soly dead, two officers wounded and Campbell paralyzed below the waist.

A state law that went into effect Jan. 1 allows judges to order blood tests of suspected criminals, Glynn said.

He said investigators have no reason to believe that Campbell has the AIDS virus. But he said he filed the motion as a precaution.