Crime & Safety
LAPD Still Searching for Man Who Allegedly Tried to Run Officer Over in Sherman Oaks
The man fled from Hazeltine Avenue and Riverside Drive in a white late 1990s Chevrolet Astro van, police say.
Police are still seeking a man who was fired at by Los Angeles police after allegedly trying to run down at least one officer with a van in the parking lot of a Trader Joe's store in Sherman Oaks.
Two patrolling officers from the Van Nuys Station were in the parking lot at Hazeltine Avenue and Riverside Drive at 6:35 p.m. Tuesday when they saw the suspect being chased by two store employees, said Detective Gus Villanueva of the Los Angeles Police Department's Media Relations Section.
"The officers formed the opinion that a robbery just occurred," Villanueva said. "They tried to intervene. The suspect entered a white van, at which point he sped off, almost striking one or both of the officers."
Find out what's happening in Sherman Oakswith free, real-time updates from Patch.
The officers had been responding to the corner on an unrelated radio call.
They saw the suspect "manipulating his waistband as he was running and they began chasing the suspect on foot," police said today.
Find out what's happening in Sherman Oakswith free, real-time updates from Patch.
The man got into a white late 1990s Chevrolet Astro van, which he pointed at one of the officers. He struck one officer and that's when an officer-involved shooting occurred.
The man's name and whereabouts are being sought.
Police do not know if the man was hit, but no one showed up at a hospital matching his description.
The property where the shooting is shared by a Trader Joe's store and a bank and is across the street from the Westfield Fashion Square shopping center. The shooting was under investigation by the LAPD's Force Investigation Division.
Anyone with information was asked to call the Force Investigation Division at (213) 486-5230.
