Gang Member Arrested in Officer’s Shooting

Long Beach police officer Brian Watt walked with a cane and spoke slowly as he expressed hope Wednesday that someone would come forward to help catch the gang member suspected of shooting him in the head nearly two months ago.

Thursday, someone did.

An anonymous caller tipped off investigators Thursday morning that 29-year-old Aaron Hefflin, wanted for the attempted murder of Watt, was at a Compton apartment complex.

Hefflin holed up in an apartment when he saw police closing in Thursday afternoon, but surrendered to a SWAT team about 5 p.m. He was being held without bail Thursday night in a Long Beach jail.

The tipster’s call came the day after Watt and Gov. Pete Wilson appeared at police headquarters to announce that the reward for information leading to Hefflin’s arrest and conviction had been increased to $60,000. Police believe that the caller will be eligible for the reward.

“I’m overjoyed,” Watt said in an interview. “I’m ecstatic that it ended peacefully.”

Watt, 32, was on motorcycle patrol July 9 when he saw a speeding car on Long Beach Boulevard. He and his partner pulled the car over, not knowing it had been carjacked about 10 minutes earlier. A gunman jumped out and fired at least five bullets from a .38-caliber handgun. One bullet struck Watt in the leg. Another was partially deflected by his helmet, but struck his head.

He is recovering from his injuries and hopes to return to work.

Hefflin had been released from state prison June 12 after serving two years for a vehicle theft, and was on parole at the time of the shooting. Long Beach police said he had a record of violence as an inmate, and was seeking to become “a soldier” for the Mexican Mafia prison gang.

In Compton, Hefflin was affiliated with the Willow Street gang, authorities said, and may have been staying with fellow gang members since the shooting.

At the apartment where he was found, in a one-story, four-unit building on Myrrh Street within view of Compton police headquarters, detectives were searching for weapons and other evidence late Thursday.

But two young men who claimed to be members of the Willow Street gang said Hefflin visited the Myrrh Street apartment infrequently and had been staying elsewhere.

The fact that Hefflin had evaded capture for so long was beginning to wear on Watt.

“I thought maybe he was gone, out of the state,” he said.

But Cpl. Mike Dugan, an investigator with the Career Criminal Apprehension Team, said he felt “pretty confident” that Hefflin was still in the Compton area even as weeks passed without a break.

After receiving the tip Thursday morning, investigators set up surveillance outside the apartment complex, spotting Hefflin in a dirt courtyard behind it.

As police established a perimeter around the complex, Hefflin saw them and ducked into one of the apartments. A police negotiator, Josef Levy, established phone contact with Hefflin and told him the police wanted to resolve the standoff without violence. After a few moments, Hefflin announced he would surrender.

“He knew he was completely surrounded,” Dugan said. “He knew it was over.”