Gunman Who Fled Police Sought
Los Angeles police asked the public’s help Wednesday in tracking down a suspected car thief who may have been shot by one officer when he reportedly pointed a gun at another.
The suspect appeared to have been hit once in the back after pointing a semiautomatic handgun at Officers John Bennett and Heather Kowalczyk, said Sgt. John Pasquariello, a spokesman for the Los Angeles Police Department.
Bennett, 39, has 71/2 years’ experience with the department, and Kowalczyk, 34, is a four-year veteran.
The confrontation occurred as Bennett approached the suspect’s car on the shoulder of the Hollywood Freeway, police said.
When the man pointed his gun at Bennett, Kowalczyk drew her pistol and fired at the suspect, Pasquariello said.
Moments later the man sped down the freeway and exited at Roscoe Boulevard. Police pursued him to Strathern Street and Wilkinson Avenue, where he abandoned the car and ran, authorities said.
Police said he forced his way into a home on Rhodes Avenue and made a phone call, and later broke into another home a short distance away and stole a change of clothes. Outside a nearby home, police found a bloody, white T-shirt with a bullet hole, Pasquariello said.
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