Man with fake weapon is shot

A Riverside police officer shot and wounded a man wielding a replica handgun during a fight Friday outside a Denny’s restaurant, and a bystander was injured in the gunfire.

Officer Michael Paul Stucker fired three shots, hitting Dominique Thompson, 19, of Riverside with at least one round. The gunfire also wounded Tierre Whittaker, who was among the nearly 500 people who filled the parking lot as the area’s nightclubs closed.

Thompson was arrested on suspicion of brandishing a firearm in the presence of police, said Sgt. Leon Phillips of the Riverside Police Department.

Thompson and Whittaker were treated and released from a hospital for non-life-threatening wounds. Police responded about 2 a.m. to a fight involving a group of people in the 1200 block of University Avenue.

As officers approached, they saw a man later identified as Thompson being pulled away from the confrontation. Thompson went to his car and pulled out what appeared to be an authentic firearm, and he refused officers’ commands to drop it, Phillips said.

Stucker fired when it appeared Thompson might shoot the officers or members of the crowd, Phillips said. A passing car in the parking lot was also struck by one of the officer’s bullets.

In April 2006, Stucker was involved in an incident when another officer shot and killed an unarmed man. Stucker and Officer Terry Ellefson had fired Taser darts at Lee Deante Brown, who had been acting erratically outside a hotel along University Avenue.

Brown wrested away Ellefson’s Taser gun during a struggle, according to police. Ellefson shot Brown in fear that the Taser would be used against him.

The Riverside County district attorney’s office investigated that shooting and determined there was no criminal liability on the part of the officers, and no charges were filed.

Brown’s family in February filed a lawsuit against the city and the officers involved. That case is pending.

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jonathan.abrams@latimes.com

Times staff writer Mike Anton contributed to this report.