CHP Slaying Suspect Jailed in Texas Raid

Police and federal agents arrested an Orange County man here early Wednesday on suspicion of killing a rookie CHP officer, capping a cross-country manhunt that led detectives to a suspect allegedly with a blood-splattered tennis shoe.

Hung “Henry” Thanh Mai, a 25-year-old suspected gang member, was taken into custody in an apartment complex on the city’s southwestern side with two other friends 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 speckled 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.

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 Wednesday night at Harris County Jail. Agents said he declined to fight his extradition and could be returned to California as early as today, the same day as the slain officer’s funeral.

A man and a 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 available.

Even before last weekend’s shooting, Mai was being sought on assault charges in Orange County. He also had been under scrutiny earlier this year by detectives in connection with a fake check ring, according to Huntington Beach Police Lt. Jim Cutshaw.

Mai’s arrest by the FBI and Houston and Fullerton police departments ended an exhaustive search for Burt’s killer 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 pointed officers toward Houston. Investigators said they discovered phony travelers’ checks in the trunk of the car.

Alerted that Mai might be en route to Texas, FBI agents, two newly arrived Fullerton police officers and officers with the Houston Police Department spotted Mai on Tuesday.

The FBI and Houston police kept Mai under constant surveillance for 24 hours, while the suspect had dinner, 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. 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,” FBI spokesman Jim Conway said. “It’s as simple as that.”

Thirteen officers, including Detectives Tom Conklin and J.R. Richardson of the Fullerton Police Department, took part in the Houston stakeout.

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

It is not clear why Mai went to Houston. Investigators said they suspect that Mai, a native of Vietnam, may be a member of an Asian gang with nationwide links, but they were unable to confirm that Wednesday.

A wave of relief swept the Fullerton Police Department and the California Highway Patrol, which had a team of officers working around the clock to find Burt’s killer. Since the killing, police have been wearing black strips of tape across their badges in memory of the 25-year-old patrolman, who left behind a pregnant wife.

Investigators had seen their hopes dashed early 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 and murderer . . . has been arrested.”

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

Fullerton police said they are trying to determine whether Mai is a member of a violent gang based in Long Beach.

Investigators who work with Asian gangs say the groups are typically well-organized, sometimes nomadic and almost always well-armed. Unlike gangs that fight for turf or street acclaim, Asian gangsters tend to focus on criminal commerce, putting profit first, police experts say.

In the Interstate 5 corridor--from Vancouver, British Columbia, south to the Mexican port city of Ensenada--Asian gangs often operate forgery and fraud rings, churning out bogus credit cards and checks, and also dip into high-tech crimes, such as cloning cellular phones, police said.

Investigators said they suspect Mai had been using an alias when he leased the BMW found at the scene of Burt’s shooting. The car was not registered to Mai and had not been reported stolen, Fullerton Police Sgt. Glenn Deveney said.

In the suspect bulletin issued Tuesday to police nationwide, investigators listed 10 aliases believed to be used by Mai.

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

On Wednesday, the family of the slain officer reacted with mixed emotions to the news of a new arrest.

“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 Kristin Burt, 28.

“We don’t have time to think about him [Mai],” added Don Burt Sr., the dead officer’s father who is a CHP sergeant. “He’s not worthy of our thoughts.”

Burt’s widow and his parents said they do not plan to attend Mai’s trial unless prosecutors want them to testify.

Kristin Burt, who is seven months pregnant with the couple’s first child, was comforted by CHP officers, friends and her husband’s parents. Family members have been riding a roller coaster of emotions since the death Saturday of the younger Burt, who was called Donnie by family members, said Kristin Burt.

The elder Burt, who patrols the freeways in Riverside County, broke down several times during an interview in his son’s apartment in Anaheim Hills. He was still grieving the death of his father two weeks ago when his son was gunned down while making what officials said was a routine traffic stop.

“My two heroes are dead. My father was my hero. My son was my hero,” he said between quiet sobs. “Immortality is memories. We have the most beautiful memories of Donnie. My son is immortal.”

Also contributing to this report were Times staff writers H.G. Reza, Peter M. Warren and Lily Dizon and correspondent Jeff Kass.

* INTERNAL INVESTIGATION: Police vow full inquiry into Choi’s mistreatment claims. A12