HUNTINGTON BEACH : Parolee Is Sought in Police Shooting

A 19-year-old parolee is wanted on suspicion of attempted murder for allegedly opening fire on a Huntington Beach police officer who stopped to question a group of teens, police said Tuesday.

Authorities have issued an arrest warrant for Arturo “Osito” Cervantes Rodriguez of Huntington Beach, who police say was among a group of about 10 teenagers who ran away in March as an officer tried to approach them after midnight in the Oakview neighborhood, Lt. Dan Johnson said. ( Osito means little bear in Spanish.)

“The officer drove down an alley and saw Rodriguez step out of a walkway between the alley and the street and fire at least one shot,” Johnson said. “The bullet went through the window, shattering glass all over the officer.”

Shards of glass flew into the officer’s eyes, but did not cause major injuries, during the March 19 shooting in the 17000 block of Queens Lane, Johnson said.

Witnesses recently came forward to cooperate with investigators, who tried to arrest Rodriguez Friday at his parents’ Slater Avenue apartment, but the suspect escaped through a window, Johnson said.

Police described the suspect as Latino, 5 feet, 6 inches tall weighing 175 pounds with brown hair and eyes. Rodriguez has a tattoo on his left arm, and there are three dots on his left wrist. He has a tattoo of a star on his right wrist. Johnson said he is considered armed and dangerous.

Rodriguez, who is on parole for an auto theft conviction, was last seen driving a 1986 blue and gray Ford Thunderbird, license 1SKC387, police said.