Alleged Drug Dealer Wounded by Officers

Los Angeles police officers shot and wounded a suspect Friday who allegedly attempted to sell rock cocaine to undercover narcotics officers in front of an apartment building at Parthenia Place and Columbus Avenue, authorities said.

Michael Grossman, 36, of Panorama City, was shot in the upper arm when he allegedly drove his pickup truck at two uniformed officers attempting to arrest him at 9:15 a.m. following a drug deal, said Lt. Anthony Alba, a Los Angeles Police Department spokesman. Grossman’s injuries, which included a bullet injury to his hip, were not life-threatening.

Grossman then drove his truck into the intersection, where he collided with a car, Alba said. The driver of the car was not injured.

Grossman continued east on Parthenia and was arrested a short time later when his truck stalled in a parking lot at Cedros Avenue and Roscoe Boulevard near Panorama Mall, Alba said.

Grossman will probably face narcotics charges and a charge of assault with a deadly weapon, Alba said. The uniformed officers who fired their weapons were Wilfredo Ortiz, 24, who has been on the police force for 2 1/2 years, and Manuel Solis, 24, a three-year department veteran.

This is the second time in four months that Solis was involved in a shooting incident, Alba said.

In January, Solis was grazed across the face by a bullet fragment, yet was able to drag his former partner to safety after a suspect with an assault weapon fired on the officers when they arrived at his Lake View Terrace house to quell a domestic dispute.

Friday’s incident is being investigated by the department’s Robbery/Homicide Division, Alba said.