O.C. Officer Wounded in Shootout

A Santa Ana police officer was critically wounded Saturday evening when a motorist stepped from his vehicle and began firing at officers who had pulled their cruiser up to his car for a closer look, according to police.

The motorist, who was gravely injured when police left their car and returned fire, reportedly attracted the notice of patrol officers because he was parked in the center of South Maddock Street with a crowd around his car.

Officers passed the vehicle and made a quick U-turn.

As they neared the gunman’s silver Honda Accord from behind, the crowd dispersed and the motorist gunned his engine and pulled into a driveway.

The driver stepped from his car and began shooting at the police car, shattering the windshield and hitting the driver in the upper torso, according to Sgt. Baltazar De La Riva.

The shooting occurred in the 2200 block of South Maddock Street, near Anahurst Place.

“I was watching TV when I heard a shot and then several more,” said Eric Flores, 19.

“I saw one guy laying down in the street and a cop yelling at him: ‘This is what you get.’ I saw a cop on the sidewalk too, lying down, breathing hard and trying to relax. He was holding his stomach, like right below his vest.”

Another neighbor, Elmer Brambila, 24, said he watched as one officer lifted the wounded policeman onto his shoulder and carried him to an ambulance.

Witnesses described the suspect as “chunky” and wearing a red-checked shirt. Police identified the gunman as Jose Maciel, 28, of Santa Ana.

De La Riva said Maciel had a no-bail warrant out for his arrest for robbery, illegal possession of a firearm and being a parolee at large.

Police say unidentified injured officer was dragged behind a cinderblock wall by another policeman.

Maciel’s condition was not available Saturday evening; however, De La Riva said the officer was in stable condition after surgery at Western Medical Center-Santa Ana.