CALIFORNIA BRIEFING / ANAHEIM

A police officer making a routine traffic stop early Friday morning shot a 21-year-old parolee in the head after struggling with the man in his vehicle as he tried to speed away.

Authorities were still sorting out what happened during the confrontation shortly after 2 a.m. at Santa Ana and Bond streets.

“There’s a lot of speculation at this point,” said Sgt. Rick Martinez, a spokesman for the Anaheim Police Department.

Martinez said two officers were involved in the traffic stop. One approached the driver’s side door while the other went to the passenger side, where he opened the car door and “confronted the driver,” Martinez said.

“He took off with the officer in the vehicle. The officer was fighting with the guy,” Martinez said. The officer then shot the driver, and the vehicle crashed into a parked pickup truck.

The driver, who was wanted on a narcotics charge, is in grave condition at UC Irvine Medical Center, Martinez said.

The officer was placed on administrative leave pending an investigation by the Orange County district attorney.

-- Mike Anton