S.J. officer shoots man who allegedly was driving at him

Posted on Tue, Feb. 14, 2006


S.J. officer shoots man who allegedly was driving at him

By Sean Webby
Mercury News

A San Jose police officer shot and wounded a man who allegedly was driving a stolen car at a group of officers looking for a dangerous parolee on a small East Side residential street.

Alberto Paul Gonzales, 28, was expected to survive. The officer, who was not identified, was uninjured.

``The officer feared for his life and thought this guy was going to run him over,'' said Santa Clara County Sheriff's spokesman Serge Palanov, who described the event.

Palanov said Gonzales apologized for trying to run down the officers. ``He said he was sorry, he saw the officers, he just wanted to get away.''

Two other people were briefly taken into custody, and a shotgun and bullets were seized. But police were still looking for the gang member, who slipped away in the chaos on Woodhaven Drive.

At the time of the shooting, police had been searching for David Lee Lopez, a 28-year-old parolee reportedly armed with a 9mm or .22 caliber handgun and considered dangerous.

The strange case began around 8 a.m. today when police showed up on the small street that runs off White Road with a domestic violence warrant for Lopez, reportedly a member of the Nuestra Familia gang.

Officers watched a home where they believed Lopez was staying. Police saw a car driving away and stopped it nearby. It was a woman, who police believe may have been a decoy. She was taken into custody for questioning and had not been identified by late this afternoon. Another car with someone from the home left. Police stopped it. But it was still not the man they were looking for.

Then a man later identified as Gonzales ran from the home. He burst into a woman's home and stayed there while police ordered him to surrender. He then managed to get into a car and speed down the small residential street, allegedly right at a phalanx of officers with their guns drawn.

One fired.

Police did not disclose the officer's name, but confirmed that he had been placed on routine administrative leave while the investigation was pending.

It was also unclear from investigators where on his body the suspect was shot. But the beat-up Nissan had a shattered driver's side window that looked as though it may have been penetrated by a single bullet. A source said that Gonzales was wounded on his arm.

But when police searched the home on Woodhaven, they did not find Lopez.

Later that day, residents of two nearby homes reported that they had been burglarized. Police said they believe Lopez is the burglar.
Contact Sean Webby at swebby [at] mercurynews.com or (408) 920-5003.



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