Police Badge Deflects Bullet Fired By Pursuit Suspect
LOS ANGELES (CBSLA.com) — An armed man died Friday in a fiery crash after leading police on a wild chase through three counties.
Shortly after midnight, officers responded to a residence in Huntington Beach for report of a domestic violence incident.
Upon their arrival, two officers encountered a man who proceeded to get into a shite Nissan and drive away from the home.
A short while later, the suspect allegedly made a U-turn and fired several rounds at both officers.
Gunfire struck the badge on the uniform of one of the officers, a 10 year veteran of the department, which ultimately saved his life.
Police were able to return fire at the suspect before he fled from the area.
The pursuit suspect led authorities to the northbound 15 Freeway in the Cajon Pass where his vehicle veered off the road for an unknown reason, and caught on fire.
The man succumbed to injuries sustained from the flames. His identity is being withheld pending family notification.
"I'm still kind of in shock that this would happened there. It's pretty quiet, you never hear anything going on there and then to hear guns were involved? It's kinds scary," said Andrew Copelin who lives a few houses down from where the domestic violence call originated.
Orange County sheriff's deputies are investigating the officer-involved shooting.
