By Erika I. Ritchie and Frank Shyong
The Orange County Register
RANCHO SANTA MARGARITA, Calif. — An officer-involved shooting Saturday followed a speeding motorcyclist’s failure to stop, a sheriff’s spokesman said.
The incident occurred at 12:45 p.m. in front of the man’s house in a cul-de-sac on Meadow Park Lane near Robinson Ranch Road, Sgt. Jason Park said.
Park said the shooting occurred after a deputy attempted to stop the man after he was observed riding his motorcycle over the speed limit.
“The deputy lost sight of the suspect, but because he had prior contact, he went to the house where he believed the man lived,” Park said. “He contacted the man there and an unknown interaction occurred, and the suspect was shot. He was treated and transported to a local hospital.”
Park said the injured man is stable, but did not name him. No weapon has been found at the scene, he said.
Sheriff’s deputies arrived on scene throughout Saturday afternoon, along with officials from the District Attorney’s Office, who routinely investigate officer-involved shootings. Yellow crime-scene tape was put up across Raintree Lane and on Robinson Ranch Road.
Bryan Bowers, who lives in Robinson Ranch, said he was driving down Robinson Ranch Road when he saw two police cars heading up the road past him. He proceeded to a nearby grocery store and saw two more patrol cars there.
“I called my wife and told her to check the sheriff’s blotter,” he said. “About five minutes later she texted back saying she heard five gunshots fired. First she heard one shot followed by a 40-second pause, then another, followed by 15 second pause, and three more in rapid succession. Then she heard cars zoom up the hill.”
Bowers said he came home and saw police activity near Robinson Ranch Road and Meadow Park Lane.
“I saw the suspect lying on the ground in the cul-de-sac,” he said. “Then I saw two ambulances. They stabilized him and took him to the hospital.”
Investigators collect evidence at the scene of an officer-involved shooting in a Rancho Santa Margarita cul-de-sac.
Copyright 2012 Orange County Register