1 Slain, 3 Held in Chase, Gunfight

A pursuit that began with a speeding violation morphed into a deadly shootout early Thursday in which suspected gang members fired a shotgun and an automatic weapon at officers, leading Los Angeles Police Chief William J. Bratton to clarify his earlier call for restrictions on such chases.

In tempering his earlier remarks, Bratton said officers should always be allowed to use their training, experience, instincts and “sixth sense” to decide how to confront criminals.

The chase ended when four people in the fleeing car crashed into a truck. One man was shot to death by officers in the chase, which began with a minor traffic violation -- the type of event that Bratton said Tuesday should not justify a pursuit.

Three of the four suspects are known gang members. One is wanted by federal authorities, and another was being sought for a state probation violation.

Bratton praised the performance of the 14 officers involved in the chase as heroic. “It was only through the grace of God that more lives were not lost,” Bratton said.

Bratton said the incident had not changed his plan to “prohibit to the greatest degree possible officers initiating a pursuit based on an infraction.” He said Thursday’s pursuit would have been justified under even the more restrictive proposed policy.

“There is always going to be an exception to any policy,” Bratton said.

Police Commission President Rick Caruso, who argued earlier this week for even more stringent controls on chases than Bratton, said that whatever policy is adopted, there need to be good-faith exceptions.

“It brings a different side of the story,” Caruso said of Thursday’s incident. “We’ve talked about when an innocent person is injured. But there’s a legitimate argument that with the actions of the officers, a crime was prevented, and we have to take that into account. No matter what policy we adopt, it has to allow the ability for the officers to use their judgment to initiate a pursuit, even if it’s not technically in policy.”

The nearly half-hour gun battle began at 2:30 a.m. near Country Club Drive and Western Avenue when seven-year Police Department veteran Peter Galen, 32, and his partner, Roger Fontes, 31, with four years on the force, saw a speeding car, Bratton said.

When they tried to pull the vehicle over, the driver wouldn’t stop, touching off a minute-long chase. The car stopped at 12th Place and Serrano Avenue. As officers pulled up, the suspects opened fire at close range with a handgun, a shotgun and a fully automatic assault rifle, then continued their flight, police said.

One of the officers returned fire through the windshield of his patrol car. Other units picked up the chase at Vermont Avenue and Wilshire Boulevard.

The suspects opened fire again at a parking garage near the intersection. Officer Ralph Camarillo, 29, a six-year veteran returned fire, authorities said.

The pursuit continued across the city for 20 minutes before the car clipped a large truck in the 1800 block of South Olive Street and plowed into a tree.

Earlier in the week, Bratton proposed using helicopters and supervisors whenever possible to take control of chases, while banning pursuits that began with minor offenses, such as speeding.

Such pursuits account for 60% of police chases.

Police said the three surviving suspects will be charged with attempted murder of a police officer and may be prosecuted for the death of their friend.

Bratton commented on the shooting after meeting with six members of Congress in which city leaders asked for more federal help to stem the tide of gang violence by avoiding cutbacks in the Housing Authority Police and continuing funding for a program that coordinates law enforcement in high-crime areas.

The city leaders met in Mayor James K. Hahn’s office with Reps. Howard Berman (D-Woodland Hills), Xavier Becerra (D-Los Angeles), Maxine Waters (D-Los Angeles), Juanita Millender-McDonald (D-Carson), Lucille Roybal-Allard (D-Los Angeles) and Diane Watson (D-Los Angeles). They pledged to seek more federal help for Los Angeles.

Hahn also met separately with U.S. Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) on the same issue.