Wounded suspect due in court

GLENDALE — A suspected heroin dealer is facing charges of possessing drugs and assaulting two police detectives in April after allegedly trying to run them over with his car in Pacoima, according to a criminal complaint.

Glendale police arrested Vicente Guzman, 28, of Pacoima after being released last month from Providence Holy Cross Medical Center in Mission Hills, where he was being treated for a gunshot wound, police said.

He is scheduled to appear in Los Angeles County Superior Court on Monday after pleading not guilty May 21 to two felony counts of assault on a peace officer, a felony count of selling, transporting or offering to sell a controlled substance and a misdemeanor charge of resisting arrest, according to the criminal complaint.

“He’ll be held accountable for his actions,” Sgt. Tom Lorenz said.

A judge on Monday is expected to schedule the date for Guzman’s preliminary hearing in San Fernando, said Shiara Dávila-Morales, a spokeswoman of the Los Angeles County district attorney’s office.

Undercover narcotics detectives had been following Guzman on April 27 as he allegedly made several drug transactions in the Los Angeles region, Lorenz said.

Guzman stopped about 2:52 p.m. at a gas station in an industrial area of Desmond Street and San Fernando Road in Pacoima, where he parked in front of a wall between two cars, police said.

That’s when detectives decided to step in and make the arrest.

But as they approached Guzman’s vehicle, he ducked down and pressed the gas pedal, Lorenz said.

After one detective unsuccessfully leaned inside Guzman’s vehicle to stop the car, a second officer fired two shots into the car, striking Guzman on the left side of his body, Lorenz said.

The detective who reached into Guzman’s vehicle suffered minor cuts and was treated by paramedics at the scene.