Crime & Safety
Burbank Man Charged With Shooting, Wounding Sheriff's Deputies in Bellflower
Juan Manuel Martinez allegedly shot at two sheriff's deputies Thursday.
BELLFLOWER, CA - A Burbank man accused of shooting two Los Angeles County sheriff's deputies last week in Bellflower and then holding authorities at bay for nearly eight hours was charged Tuesday with attempted murder and other felony counts.
Juan Manuel Martinez, 39, is scheduled to be arraigned Tuesday at the Bellflower courthouse on 10 counts of attempted murder of a peace officer and one count each of false imprisonment of a hostage, dissuading a witness by force or threat and possession of a firearm by a felon.
The criminal complaint includes the allegation that Martinez discharged a firearm causing great bodily injury to two of the deputies, who work out of the sheriff's Lakewood station and were conducting a DUI checkpoint on Lakewood Boulevard around 10:50 p.m. Thursday.
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When a motorcycle deputy pulled Martinez over in the 16600 block of Lisa Avenue, he allegedly got out of his vehicle with a firearm and fired upon the deputy, striking him multiple times.
Martinez allegedly fled from the scene on foot and then fired on four other deputies who had arrived to assist the injured deputy, wounding one of them, as well, according to authorities.
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He allegedly then fired upon another set of deputies before hiding in a small structure for almost eight hours and holding a hostage, but the man was able to escape unharmed.
Martinez was arrested after a SWAT team fired tear gas into the structure behind a house in the 9000 block of Mayne Street in Bellflower, Sheriff Jim McDonnell said.
He has remained jailed since his arrest about 7:30 a.m. Friday in lieu of $10 million bail, according to jail records. Prosecutors are expected to ask that his bail be increased to $11 million.
If convicted, he could face a maximum of life in prison, according to the District Attorney's Office.
One of the two injured deputies was released Saturday from a hospital, while the other remained hospitalized after undergoing surgery, according to the sheriff's department.
— City News Service, photo courtesy of the LASD
