By Benny Evangelista
San Francisco Chronicle
FREEMONT, Calif. — A Fremont police officer who was shot and critically wounded while attempting to arrest a man in Oakland was improving Sunday after undergoing a successful second round of surgery to repair his bladder.
But Officer Todd Young, 39, remained under heavy sedation and in critical condition at Highland Hospital in Oakland, and will probably need more surgery this week, said Fremont Police Chief Craig Steckler.
Steckler spoke as police and prosecutors prepared a criminal case against a suspected gang member accused of shooting Young during a violent encounter in East Oakland. Charges may be filed as soon as today against Andrew Barrientos, 20, as well as two others accused of helping him try to escape to Mexico.
More surgeries likely
Steckler, who has been paying frequent visits to Highland Hospital, said, “The doctors said every hour that passes is very good.” But he added, “It’s still nip and tuck. He’s not out of the woods yet.”
The Fremont chief said Young “has pretty significant bladder and stomach injuries, and they’re thinking he’ll need more surgeries. They’re not going to do complete reconstructive surgery Sunday, but just try to get things fixed temporarily. When he gets his strength up, they’ll do more.”
Steckler said Young had been sedated since Friday afternoon, when Oakland police said he was hit with two shots while trying to arrest Barrientos at his home on domestic violence charges.
But Young has been able to move his feet, leaving doctors hopeful that he did not suffer paralyzing injuries, Steckler said. Young’s wife has been constantly by his side, and his two children, an 8-year-old girl and 5-year-old boy, have spoken to him, Steckler said.
Young, who was with Newark police for 10 years before joining Fremont six years ago, has been “a stellar officer for the department,” Steckler said.
Barrientos was booked into jail in San Diego County on Sunday morning, according to jail records. He was being held without bail on suspicion of attempted murder, carjacking and attempted carjacking.
Arrested along with Barrientos was Gustavo Silva, 23, who was jailed on suspicion of being an accessory after a crime. Both men were expected to be moved north and arrive in the Bay Area as soon as today to face charges.
Third suspect held
A third suspect, a woman, was arrested at a home in Union City on Saturday, also on suspicion of being an accessory. Alameda County jail records identify her as 40-year-old Antoinette Marie Aguirre.
A prosecutor and inspector from the Alameda County district attorney’s gang unit flew to San Diego after Barrientos’ arrest, said Deputy District Attorney Teresa Drenick.
Young and another Fremont officer assigned to a countywide police task force attempted to arrest Barrientos Friday afternoon for a string of crimes related to an Aug. 12 incident in San Leandro in which he allegedly assaulted the mother of his child while driving, police said.
Barrientos, police said, fired 10 rounds at the officers, hitting Young in the groin and leg. Barrientos then shot at the driver of a vehicle he tried to carjack before fleeing in another vehicle taken at gunpoint, police said.
In the midst of a multi-agency manhunt, Oakland police telephoned their counterparts in San Diego just before 3 p.m. Saturday to say the suspects were probably heading to Mexico, said Lt. Andra Brown, a San Diego police spokeswoman. They also identified two vehicles that Barrientos had allegedly carjacked or tried to carjack, she said.
Captured at border
But Barrientos and Silva were in a different vehicle, a Ford Thunderbird, when they pulled into a parking lot off Interstate 5 at the San Ysidro border crossing around 4 p.m., Brown said.
She said Sgt. Jason Weeden recognized Barrientos from the description broadcast on police radio, determined from a quick license-plate trace that the car had been registered in Oakland, and pointed his gun at both men after they got out of the car.
They surrendered without resistance as other officers rushed to the scene, just yards from the border, Brown said.
San Ysidro, part of the city of San Diego, is the last freeway exit before the border. If the two men had entered Mexico, Brown said, San Diego police could not have pursued them, but authorities in Tijuana might have been waiting for them if Oakland police had alerted them as well.
Fremont officers relieved
News of Barrientos’ capture was “very uplifting” for Fremont officers who had gathered at Highland Hospital to support Young and his family, said Fremont Police Capt. Frank Grgurina.
“Everybody’s breathing a sigh of relief, especially that nobody else was harmed,” Grgurina said.
About 20 officers joined an equal number of Young’s relatives and friends at the hospital to await news of the latest round of surgery.
Meanwhile, Grgurina said other members of law enforcement and the community also gathered at Highland to donate blood for Young, who required heavy transfusions during his initial surgery. The hospital, however, isn’t set up to handle the donations, so police asked potential donors to contact local blood centers.
Blood donors step forward
The only one of five local American Red Cross blood centers normally open on Sunday was in Pleasant Hill. There, about a dozen officers and community members showed up Sunday to donate blood - some for the first time, said Sara O’Brien, a Red Cross spokeswoman.
One was an off-duty officer from Southern California who was visiting his parents in the Bay Area and heard about Young. Another college-age woman came in to donate and brought three of her friends, O’Brien said.
The Red Cross had issued a call for more blood donations last Monday because local supplies were critically low, especially with the Labor Day weekend approaching, but the response was slow until after news of the officer’s need for transfusions, she said.
Centers in Pleasant Hill as well as Oakland, Pleasanton and San Jose will be open today, while a Newark facility won’t be open until Tuesday. O’Brien said that anyone interested in donating blood should make an appointment by calling 800 733-2767 or going to RedCrossBlood.org.
Copyright 2010 San Francisco Chronicle