Man Wearing Bulletproof Vests Injures 2 Deputies

A sheriff’s deputy was shot in the back and a second was hurt in a car crash after a bizarre attack Friday by at least one man wearing four bulletproof vests, deputies said.

The suspect’s van and a patrol car burst into flames after the head-on crash. About 75 people in a square-mile area were evacuated for several hours because the van’s driver told a deputy that ammunition and a pipe bomb were inside.

Investigators found fragments of a possible bomb and a second, live pipe bomb.

Undersheriff Lou Blanas said officials did not know the motive for the attack, which happened outside a sheriff’s substation north of McClellan Air Force Base. Deputy Mike Butler was treated for a minor graze wound, and Deputy Jared Beck was hospitalized in good condition.

The identity of the van driver, who was hospitalized under heavy guard, was not known.