Houston Arrest Ends Hunt for Suspect in CHP Officer’s Death

Police and federal agents arrested an Orange County man here early Wednesday in the slaying of a rookie CHP officer, capping a cross-country manhunt that led detectives to a suspect who allegedly had a blood-splattered tennis shoe.

Hung “Henry” Thanh Mai, a 25-year-old alleged gang member, was arrested in an apartment complex on the city’s southwestern side at 4:15 a.m.

When a team of officers crashed into the Houston apartment, they found Mai asleep on the living room couch. According to a law enforcement source, Mai woke up, screamed, cried and threw a blanket over his head.

The source said Mai was found with white tennis shoes--one of them stained with blood--and clothing also specked with blood. Investigators were trying to determine whether there was a tie to a footprint found at the Fullerton roadside where 25-year-old CHP Officer Don Burt was shot seven times last weekend.

“I’ve never heard anyone scream and cry the way he did,” the source said. “The officers could hear him in the parking lot.”

Investigators also discovered a plane ticket in Mai’s pocket, the source said. When he was caught, Mai identified himself and told officers he lived in Orange County.

Mai was being held without bail in Harris County Jail. Agents said he declined to fight his extradition and could be returned to California as early as today, the same day the slain officer’s family is holding the funeral.

A man and woman who were in the apartment when Mai was arrested were questioned. One of them was detained pending further investigation, but police would not elaborate. Their names were not released.

Even before last weekend’s shooting, Mai was being sought on assault charges in an Orange County case, authorities said.

Mai’s arrest by the FBI and the Houston and Fullerton police departments ended an exhaustive search that began after the officer’s slaying late Saturday night during a traffic stop.

According to law enforcement sources, the key pieces of evidence that pointed to Mai were a fingerprint taken from the BMW that Burt pulled over and other undisclosed physical evidence that directed officers toward Houston. In the trunk of the car, investigators said, they discovered phony travelers checks.

Alerted that Mai might be en route to Texas, police and FBI agents identified a general area where Mai might be staying, FBI spokesman Jim Conway said.

The FBI, two Fullerton police officers and officers with the Houston Police Department gang unit found Mai on Tuesday.

The FBI and Houston police held Mai under surveillance for 24 hours while the suspect had dinner and visited a store and a bar before driving to an apartment complex in southwestern Houston late Tuesday, according to Fullerton Sgt. David Stanko.

Police broke down the door of a unit in the Idlewood Park Apartments, and Mai put up no fight when they grabbed him, authorities said. He was unarmed.

“We acted on information he may be coming to Houston and--working with the police--investigated leads and, bang, we found an apartment and there he was,” Conway said. “It’s as simple as that.”

Mai has a criminal record that includes convictions for assault, illegal weapons possession, robbery and forgery, authorities said. He lists Southern California addresses and several aliases, including Wan Cho Thomas and Todd Harvo Murakami.

It was not clear why Mai had traveled to Houston. Investigators said they suspect that Mai, a native of Vietnam, may be a member of a violent nationwide gang based in Long Beach, but they were unable to confirm that Wednesday.

A wave of relief swept the Fullerton Police Department and the California Highway Patrol, which had deployed a team of officers around the clock to pursue the manhunt. Police have been wearing black strips of tape across their badges in memory of Burt, who left behind a pregnant wife.

Investigators had seen their hopes dashed earlier this week when police detained a Buena Park man shortly after the shooting, only to release him two days later when the evidence failed to support their suspicions.

Wednesday morning, a cheer went up when a Fullerton homicide detective announced at the police station that “the shooter has been arrested.”

“There’s a weight off everyone’s backs,” said CHP Officer Keith Thornhill, a colleague of Burt. “The fact that a cop went down and his shooter was free weighed heavily on our officers and others.”

Investigators also revealed some details about the traffic stop Saturday that resulted in Burt’s death.

Fullerton Police Sgt. Glenn Deveny said the leased BMW left at the scene of the shooting was not registered to Mai and had not been reported stolen. “It’s possible he leased it under one of his aliases,” Deveny said. In the bulletin issued Tuesday to police nationwide, investigators listed 10 aliases believed to be used by Mai. Stanko said there may be as many as 15.

After Burt pulled over the BMW, he checked the driver’s license through his police radio. CHP Capt. Chuck Lynd said the name Burt checked was not Mai, but he declined to say what name was given.

Meanwhile, the family of the slain officer reacted to the news of the arrest.

Kristin Burt, 28, said she felt “a great sense of relief” when a CHP official called her Wednesday morning to tell her that a suspect in her husband’s killing had been arrested in Houston.

“But whether or not somebody was going to be arrested was never an issue with me, because nothing is going to bring my husband back,” said Burt, who is seven months pregnant.

Contributing to this report were Times staff writers Peter Warren, Lily Dizon and correspondent Jeff Kass.