Hunt Continues in Deputy’s Slaying

An Antelope Valley man identified by law enforcement sources Monday as the prime suspect in the slaying of a sheriff’s deputy was charged twice in the past with crimes involving resisting arrest, according to court records.

The manhunt continued Monday for Donald Charles Kueck, the only suspect in the shooting death of Deputy Stephen Sorensen on Saturday off a remote Antelope Valley road.

A sheriff’s spokesman, however, publicly continued to call Kueck a “person of interest.”

Investigators disclosed that Sorensen was involved in a shootout with his assailant, who moved his body several hundred yards from where the deputy was shot.

Sources said that Sorensen, while investigating a trespassing case at a trailer home in Llano, radioed the license of Kueck’s car from the scene of the shootout -- his last contact with dispatchers.

The 1973 Dodge was registered to Kueck, 52, whom authorities described as possibly armed and dangerous.

Kueck, according to court records, was convicted in 1997 of misdemeanor evading a police officer and was given a year in jail. He had been stopped by police in the Antelope Valley and had refused to produce a driver’s license. He then pulled away, leading officers on a short, slow-speed pursuit, records show.

In September 2001, he pleaded no-contest in Riverside County to a single count of assault after being charged with assault with a knife, unlawful use of force on a police officer and resisting arrest, court records show. He was sentenced to a year in jail and three years’ probation.

Investigators said Sorensen put up a fight before he was killed Saturday at 21000 East Avenue T8 in Llano. The scene around the trailer suggested a gun battle, said Sheriff’s Capt. Frank Merriman.

Investigators are still trying to determine if Sorensen stumbled onto a methamphetamine operation. They said they found small amounts of chemicals resembling those used to make the street drug at the location.

According to a source, a short time after Sorensen called in the license plate of Kueck’s car, dispatchers received a call reporting shots fired in the area. After dispatchers were unable to raise Sorensen on the radio, deputies raced to the scene, where they found signs of a fight and his patrol car.

Deputies later found his body less than a quarter of a mile away. He had been shot in the torso with large-caliber semi-automatic rifle. His 9-millimeter pistol was missing. Some 2 1/2 miles from the trailer, Kueck’s Dodge was discovered with what investigators have described as evidence suggesting that it was used in the crime.

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Times staff writer Hanah Cho contributed to this report.