CHP Officers in Tustin Kill Driver Who Fled Los Angeles Police

Police shot and killed a Los Angeles man who rammed his car into an officer in Tustin early Saturday morning after leading police on a high-speed chase, authorities said.

Jose Daniel Gonzalez, 25, was shot after California Highway Patrol officers blocked him into a dead-end street in a residential neighborhood. Gonzalez raced his car twice toward officers, who fired a volley of shots at him, said Sheriff’s Lt. Dennis DeMaio.

“He did hit one of the officers. That made a big difference,” DeMaio said.

The unidentified officer was treated for unspecified injuries and released from a local hospital, DeMaio said.

Gonzalez received medical treatment but died at the scene, DeMaio said.

The Orange County Sheriff’s Department is investigating the shooting.

Officers from the Los Angeles Police Department were attempting to pull over Gonzalez for a traffic violation in southwest Los Angeles when he fled, said LAPD spokesman Officer Don Cox.

CHP officers in Orange County picked up the pursuit on the Garden Grove Freeway, just before the driver took an exit and went south on Tustin Avenue, said CHP spokeswoman Lt. Jo Ann O’Hair.

Gonzalez, whose car was rammed at least twice by pursuing squad cars, continued speeding along 1st Street and Red Hill Avenue, O’Hair said. He turned onto La Loma Drive, a dead-end street in an upscale hilltop neighborhood in north Tustin, where pursuing squad cars blocked the car in, she said.

She would not say how many officers were involved in the shooting.

Neighbors were startled by the police activity, which included a police helicopter.

“We were sound asleep and I was awakened by sirens and then they cut off, which I thought was strange,” said Gloria Duncan, who has lived in area for 23 years. “I started to get out of bed, and then I decided that probably wouldn’t be the wise thing to do.”

Times staff writer Seema Mehta contributed to this story.