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BELLFLOWER, Calif. (AP) — Two Los Angeles County sheriff's deputies were critically injured during a series of gun battles with a man who had fled a routine DUI checkpoint and later held a resident hostage for hours before his arrest early Friday.
One deputy was in critical but stable condition following surgery and the other was in fair condition, a Sheriff's Department statement said.
Both were expected to survive.
The man arrested for the shooting, identified as 39-year-old Juan Manuel Martinez, was arrested on multiple charges of attempted murder of a peace officer and kidnapping a civilian.
Sheriff Jim McDonnell said Martinez engaged in three separate gun battles late Thursday in a residential area of Bellflower, a Los Angeles suburb. The first began when a motorcycle deputy pulled Martinez over after he drove through a DUI checkpoint.
Martinez stopped his car, got out and immediately began shooting at the deputy, hitting him several times, the sheriff's department said.
The deputy returned fire and Martinez fled. He then engaged in a second shooting with deputies who responded to the first shooting, and another deputy was wounded, McDonnell said.
No deputies were hit in a third gun battle with Martinez shortly after.
Martinez was able to flee to a nearby home, where the Sheriff's Department said he took a man hostage inside a converted garage. The man was later able to escape.
After an hours-long standoff, deputies were able to drive Martinez out using tear gas and arrest him, McDonnell said.
Martinez was being held on a bail of $10 million. It's unclear whether he had an attorney yet.
Meanwhile, another gunman killed himself Friday after a confrontation with police officers in the northern Los Angeles suburb of Burbank, police said.
A report of a disturbance sent police to a McDonald's restaurant shortly after midnight where they found Lee Edward Denney, 29.
Denney had told employees he had a gun. Officers evacuated the workers and ordered Denney to leave the restaurant but he ignored them, Sgt. Claudio Losacco told City News Service.
Three officers opened fire after Denney shot off several rounds and then leveled the gun at officers, Losacco said.
Denney then jumped through a shattered window into the drive-thru area, where he shot himself and was pronounced dead at a hospital, Losacco said.
Denney, who had been in Los Angeles County for about a month, was wanted in Maury County, Tennessee for aggravated burglary and domestic assault, police said.
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