Wounded Officer Is Doing Better

A Santa Ana police officer was in good condition Sunday after allegedly being shot Saturday by a motorist who stepped from his vehicle and began firing.

The motorist, Jose Alberto Maciel, 28, who was wounded when police returned fire, was also in good condition.

Maciel had been shot by police and FBI agents once before after he allegedly robbed a bank in 2001, police said.

Maciel had a warrant out for his arrest on charges of robbery, illegal possession of a firearm and violation of parole when he fired at two officers Saturday night, said Santa Ana police Sgt. Baltazar De La Riva.

The wounded officer was shot just below his bulletproof vest and was recovering at an area hospital, police said. Authorities did not release his name.

After Maciel opened fire, police said, the officers shot back, wounding him in the leg. Maciel was taken to UCI Medical Center, where he was also booked on a charge of attempting to murder a police officer.

Police said the two officers belong to the department’s gang suppression unit. They drove by the 2200 block of Maddock Street about 7 p.m. Saturday when they spotted a crowd standing around a silver Honda Accord.

When the officers made a U-turn and drove behind the vehicle, the people around it ran into a nearby home. The motorist, whom police identified as Maciel, gunned his engine and sped up a driveway. He then jumped out of the car and fired several shots at the officers through their windshield, De La Riva said.

“The officers didn’t intend to pull him over or do anything,” De La Riva said.

The officers got out of the car and fired back at Maciel, police said. They were unsure at what point the wounded officer was hit. Investigators said they recovered a gun Maciel allegedly used in the shooting.

In November 2001, Maciel was also shot by police, after he allegedly held up a bank teller with a semiautomatic gun at a branch on Grand Avenue in Santa Ana.

A witness jotted down the license plate of Maciel’s car and gave it to police, according to accounts at the time.

When officers tried to stop his car, they said, Maciel struck a parked vehicle then fled on foot.

He “extended his arms and pointed at officers with an unknown object,” prompting a Santa Ana officer and an FBI agent to fire several times, police said. He was shot in the chest, hospitalized and later arrested. Police could not immediately provide information about the disposition of that case.