26-Year-Old Pursuit Suspect Wounded In Shootout With Police Identified
LOS ANGELES (CBSLA.com) — An armed kidnapping suspect shot by police at the end of a high-speed pursuit Friday remains in the hospital in fair condition.
Deputies pursued the man through South Los Angeles after spotting his car at the corner of West 99th Street and Budlong Avenue around 5 p.m.
The suspect failed to stop and began driving with little regard for pedestrians, squeezing through intersections and at one point barely missing a boy on a skateboard.
Saturday afternoon, officials formerly identified the suspect as 26-year-old Hector Javier Puga.
He finally came to a stop at West 43rd Street and South Vermont Avenue, exited the vehicle and opened fire at police.
Officers returned fire, striking Puga at least once in the chest.
Puga then retreated behind his vehicle and walked to the front porch of a nearby home.
The families inside the front and back houses of that residence were escorted out by deputies.
After more than an hour-long stand-off, a bloodied Puga surrendered to SWAT officers, who then put him on the ground and prepared him to be transported to the hospital around 7 p.m.
Investigators recovered the handgun used by the suspect.
Officials said late Friday Puga was wanted on the kidnapping charge because he forced his wife into a vehicle at gunpoint in the city of Paramount last Sunday.
She was able to escape when she said she had to use the restroom at her mother's house. Puga is also accused of assaulting and pistol-whipping his wife.
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