Car Thief Shoots at Huntington Officer

An off-duty Huntington Beach police officer escaped injury when a car thief he was following took two shots at him Wednesday morning, police said.

The officer, whose name was not released, was on his way to work in his own car about 6:10 a.m. when he spotted a stolen 1987 Chevrolet Camaro near Delaware Street and Adams Avenue, police said.

He recognized the car as one that had been taken the afternoon before from a gas station at Beach Boulevard and Adams, and he followed it down several streets and alleys, police said.

When the car entered an alley near Springfield Street and Delaware, the driver fired twice at the officer, who telephoned for help, police said.

Neither the officer nor his car was hit. The thief got away, but other officers found the stolen car about three miles away, at Brookhurst Street and Hamilton Avenue, police said.