Crime & Safety
Cop Shoots Stolen Car Driver at Kaiser Pinole Parking Lot
A Pinole police officer shot the driver of an alleged stolen car in the Kaiser Medical Center parking lot in Pinole this afternoon, Friday, the CHP said. One news report said the suspect allegedly fired first at police.
A man fleeing in a stolen car was shot late this afternoon, Friday, by a Pinole police officer in the parking lot of the Kaiser Permanente Medical Center in Pinole, according to the California Highway Patrol.
CHP Officer Elon Steers saying that just after 5 p.m., a CHP officer saw a black Chrysler 300 sedan that had been reported stolen going westbound on Highway 4. The officer followed car while waiting for backup, Steers said.
Seeing that he was being followed, the suspect abruptly exited at Pinole Valley Road and stopped in the Kaiser parking lot at 1301 Pinole Valley Road.
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At about 5:12 p.m., the driver got out of the car and "some kind of altercation occurred," Steers said. The suspect suffered at least one gunshot wound that did not appear to be life threatening. It has yet to be determined whether the suspect shot at one or more officers.
Bay City News quoted Steers saying that the suspect allegedly started firing at officers after getting out the car.
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The San Francisco Chronicle said the 32-year-old suspect, who had been alone in the car, was arrested and taken to a hospital after being hit by one bullet. The paper quoted Steers saying the vehicle had been stolen from Enterprise Rent-A-Car.
No one else was struck or injured. Steers said it was unclear if there were other people in the lot at the time of the shooting.
About a dozen law enforcement cars from the CHP and the Hercules Police and Pinole Police departments were also at the scene were at the scene on this afternoon and evening.
Pinole police are leading the investigation, according to Pinole Police Cmdr. Matthew Messier.
Bay City News contributed to this report.
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