Parolee Wounded Before Capture : Pursuit: Officer shoots suspect during chase on Winnetka Avenue, police say. Man is caught hiding in a garage.

A police officer shot and wounded a parolee wanted for burglary early Tuesday afternoon after the man--who allegedly told friends he would not be taken alive--pointed a pistol at the officer, police said.

Kurt Allensworth, 32, wounded in the left shoulder, was captured shortly after noon hiding in the garage of a residence in the 7400 block of Quartertown Avenue, authorities said. He was charged with assault with a deadly weapon and booked at the County-USC Medical Center jail ward.

The midday shooting startled patrons of the Canoga House Inn in the 7400 block of Winnetka Avenue, where the incident began, and snarled traffic for hours along the busy thoroughfare.

Allensworth, wanted for a string of North Hollywood burglaries, had given police the slip once Tuesday before they caught up with him again, police said.

Acting on a tip from the Career Criminal-Prison Gang Unit of the LAPD’s detective division, officers searched motels on Shoup Avenue and Ventura Boulevard in the morning, later learning that Allensworth had fled from a Ventura Boulevard motel by leaping out of a second-story window.

A .45-caliber handgun was found at the motel, along with a description of the suspect’s vehicle, a black Honda Accord, police said.

Officers were told to approach Allensworth with extreme caution because he would probably be armed and had told friends he would not be taken alive, said Police Lt. Ray Lombardo.

Steve Clebanoff, a worker at the Canoga House Inn, said police had also come there a couple of hours prior to the shooting, looking for Allensworth. Officers offered several aliases the man used, Clebanoff said, and he told them he recognized one of those aliases as the name given by a man who had stayed at the motel for a few days several months ago.

According to police, Sgt. Sonny Medina, a 14-year LAPD veteran, went to the inn, requesting assistance after spotting the Honda Accord in the parking lot.

As Allensworth, accompanied by a woman, began walking to the parking lot, Medina ordered him to halt. He began to run, followed by Medina, east across Winnetka near Valerio Street, police said.

As he ran, Allensworth allegedly pulled a gun from his waistband and pointed it at Medina, who fired four shots, wounding Allensworth in the left arm.

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Allensworth continued running, police and witnesses said, climbing a cinder-block wall and disappearing into a neighborhood across from Sutter Elementary School. A woman at the school said no students were present at the time of the shooting.

Medina followed, again shooting at the suspect after he again pointed his gun at the sergeant, police said. Medina fired a third time after seeing Allensworth point his gun at another officer who had arrived, police said.

“We just heard a lot of shots,” said Lorilyn Bertrand, who was staying at the motel. “It sounded like an automatic.”

Allensworth fled again, but observers in an LAPD helicopter directed officers to the garage and he was taken into custody without further incident, Lombardo said.