Badge saves officer's life in gun-battle car chase; suspect dies in fiery crash

HUNTINGTON BEACH — A police officer’s badge deflected a bullet heading for his heart in a gun battle during a car chase Friday morning that ended in the Cajon Pass.

The officer was not hurt.

Police responding to a domestic violence call in the area of Bushard Street and Yorktown Avenue in Huntington Beach found themselves in a gun battle car chase with a man who fled from the home as they arrived after midnight Friday.

“When the officers arrived at the location, a male suspect got into his vehicle and drove away,” said Officer Jeifer Marlatt, a department spokeswoman.

The man began driving eastbound on Yorktown with officers in pursuit. Then, abruptly, he made a U-turn and opened fire on the two approaching patrol cars. “One of the bullets struck an officer in the badge,” Marlatt said.

Both officers returned fire, one from the driver’s seat of his moving patrol car, Marlatt said. The officers turned their cars around and continued to chase the man.

“The pursuit reached high speeds and, at one point, we lost sight of the driver,” Marlatt said. Costa Mesa Police and the Huntington Beach Police Department’s helicopter relocated the suspect’s vehicle and continued the pursuit onto the northbound 55 freeway, eastbound 91 and northbound 15 freeway, with The California Highway Patrol taking over somewhere along the way.

The fleeing man lost control of his vehicle crashed down an embankment at Cleghorn Road in the Cajon Pass. “His vehicle burst into flames, and he was pronounced [dead] at the scene,” Marlatt said.

As for the initiating officers, both are said to be fine, according to Marlatt. “Adrenaline kicked in and he didn’t even know he was hit until he pulled over in Costa Mesa,” Marlatt said of the officer whose badge absorbed the impact of a bullet, which also passed struck the officers’ bulletproof vest after passing through his windshield.

As of 8:30 a.m., Yorktown Avenue was closed to between Bushard and Adams Avenue. Bushard was closed between Indianapolis Avenue and Garfield Avenue, police said.

The Orange County Sheriff’s Department is handling the investigation into the shooting and The California Highway Patrol is handling the pursuit investigation, which spans approximately 70 miles, Marlatt said.

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