CHP Officer Made Up Attack, Investigators Say

Sheriff’s officials announced Friday that a veteran CHP officer who claimed he was shot during a traffic stop in San Clemente last summer concocted the story, which triggered a massive manhunt for an elusive red truck and snarled traffic for much of the day.

Sources in the department said detectives were almost immediately suspicious about the shooting because of two key factors: There was no blood found at the crime scene, and the patrolman’s wounds resembled those made by the type of handguns issued to CHP officers.

Crime lab analysis revealed that characteristics of the wounds were inconsistent with CHP Officer Gary L. Burnett’s story and prompted detectives to reject the 11-year veteran’s claim that he was shot during a routine traffic stop, according to sources familiar with the investigation. Detectives have asked prosecutors to file misdemeanor charges against him for allegedly filing a false police report.

While authorities remain unsure who fired the shots that struck Burnett and why, a source familiar with the investigation said detectives believe the officer pulled the trigger. The source said Burnett discarded the barrel of his gun, which prevented its testing.

People in Orange County law enforcement struggled Friday to understand the accusations. Officers often receive special attention when seeking promotions within the department. The prospect of a fast-track career, they speculated, might inspire someone to deliver a self-inflicted injury.

Burnett could not be reached for comment Friday, but sheriff’s officials said he denies that he lied about the incident. He has been on administrative leave with pay while CHP officials finish an internal investigation.

The Sheriff’s Department probe involved up to 1,000 staff hours, and other local agencies from Anaheim to San Diego contributed hundreds more. From Orange County to the Mexican border, officers scoured the freeways, searching for the driver of a red Toyota pickup whom Burnett had implicated in the attack.

Even at the time of the shooting, some CHP officials and other officers privately expressed disbelief that an assailant could have eluded such an intense dragnet that was formed within minutes of Burnett’s radio call for help.

Tips from the public sparked at least two costly surveillance operations, including one involving a Dana Point man whom detectives spent hours trailing as he drove around town in a truck resembling the sought-after Toyota, said sheriff’s spokesman Jim Amormino. Sheriff’s Department officials are still counting the cost of the operation but said that $40,000 was a conservative estimate.

News of the Aug. 25 shooting at the time drew widespread sympathy from people impressed that Burnett had managed to quickly give authorities a description of his attacker’s vehicle and then drive himself, while bleeding profusely, five miles to the nearest hospital for emergency surgery. One round struck Burnett in the chest but was stopped by his armored vest. Surgeons compared the blow from the bullet to being hit full force by a baseball bat. The other bullet tore through the officer’s upper right arm.

Flowers and cards poured into the San Juan Capistrano station where Burnett worked. And for weeks, alert drivers across the Southland called detectives with 150 sightings of vehicles that matched Burnett’s description.

The incident also evoked memories of the last local shooting of a CHP officer, Don Burt, who was slain three years ago in Fullerton after stopping an alleged gang leader for a routine traffic infraction. The gunman, Hung “Henry” Thanh Mai, 28, was convicted of murder in July and could face the death penalty.

On Friday, the slain officer’s father, retired CHP Sgt. Don Burt, said news of the investigation into Burnett’s shooting came as a blow to relatives of slain police officers.

“He’s making a mockery of people who sacrificed their life for something they believed in,” Burt said.

Burnett told authorities that he was shot during his first stop on a shift that began at 5:30 a.m. The officer said he pulled over a suspected speeder in an open area just north of the Avenida Pico exit of Interstate 5.

Burnett said he approached the car’s passenger door, and that the driver reached over with a handgun. Before he had a chance to unholster his weapon, Burnett contended, the driver fired twice and sped off. Burnett said he struggled back into his patrol car, used his left hand to put the car in gear and drove south, exiting at Avenida Pico. He arrived at San Clemente Hospital and Medical Center four minutes later.