Canine Unit Officer on Mend After Shooting

Police on Monday identified the officer wounded late Saturday by a suspect who was then killed.

Eric Rimat, 36, was recovering at Western Medical Center-Santa Ana after surgery to a shattered left elbow, Lt. Bob Chavez said.

“He required some pins in the elbow and his small artery had to be sewn up, but he’s getting enough blood to his hand from the main artery,” Chavez said. “They won’t know about nerve damage for a while, but he has feeling in all his fingers, although two of them are numb.”

Rimat is married and has two children, ages 2 and 5. He is a 10-year veteran of the department and received its police service medal for another shooting in which he was not struck.

Ramiro Valencia Perez, 39, of Santa Ana was killed by SWAT team members after a 6 1/2-hour standoff when he fired at Rimat’s dog and then at Rimat, Chavez said.

The dog, a 7-year-old Czech-trained German shepherd named Endy, was released from a veterinary hospital and was “up and running” Monday at the home of another handler, Chavez said. A bullet passed through the dog’s muscle but did not hit any bones or nerves.

The standoff began about 4:50 p.m. Saturday when an officer responded to a noise complaint at a home in the 2600 block of West Saint Andrew Place. Perez, who police said had been drinking, fired a handgun at the officer and then barricaded himself in a bathroom.

More than six hours later, after officers had lobbed 12 canisters of tear gas into the home, police sent in Endy and Rimat, Chavez said. A SWAT team followed as backup.

Chavez said the trained dogs are routinely sent in first with their handlers in such situations because they find a suspect more readily.

Perez had an outstanding warrant for kidnapping his wife, and a history of domestic problems, police said.