Police Open Fire In Sunnyvale After Burglary Suspect Attempts To Run Officer Over
SUNNYVALE (CBS SF) – A Santa Clara police officer opened fire on an auto burglary suspect who allegedly tried to pin the officer between two vehicles in Sunnyvale Monday evening.
According to Captain Shawn Ahearn of the Sunnyvale Department of Public Safety, the Santa Clara police officer was investigating an auto burglary in Santa Clara city limits and was in the process of stopping a white Mercedes sedan.
Authorities said the officer, who was driving an unmarked SUV, followed the vehicle into Sunnyvale and pulled over the sedan near South Wolfe Road and El Camino Real around 6:35 p.m.
Police said as the officer walked toward the sedan, the driver used the car as a weapon.
"The vehicle drove toward the officer at a high rate of speed. Officer fearing for his life fired several shots at the vehicle. The vehicle was last seen fleeing northbound on Wolfe Road," Ahearn said.
Julie Barker, who lives in a nearby trailer home, took cover amid the chaos.
A second police cruiser who had stopped behind the suspect's car took off after the sedan, but couldn't keep up. It is not clear how many suspects were in the car, and a description of the suspects was not immediately available. "I looked to the sky because I thought it was fireworks. And my husband panicked and grabbed me and threw me inside the RV," Barker told KPIX 5.
The officer was not injured and is now on paid administrative leave.
Anyone with information in connection with the incident is asked to contact the Department of Public Safety at (408) 730-7120.
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