A man who allegedly shot a California Highway Patrol officer multiple times when an altercation broke out during a traffic stop in Studio City was taken into custody Tuesday in Van Nuys following an overnight search.
Pejhmaun Khosroadbadi, 33, was arrested shortly before 9 a.m., CHP Officer Wes Haver of the agency’s West Valley Area office told City News Service. A canine from the Los Angeles Police Department tracked down Khosroadbadi, who was found by authorities hiding in a homeless encampment at Gloria Avenue and Cantlay Street, according to reports from the scene.
The dog tracked Khosroadbadi’s scent from a Haskell Avenue apartment building where a standoff involving SWAT officers occurred overnight to the homeless encampment, where he was found with an unspecified injury in a tent. The suspect was taken to a hospital by paramedics.
LAPD Chief Michel Moore told NBC4 the suspect “suffered a gunshot wound to his hand during the altercation with the (CHP) officer.”
The shooting occurred just before 7:55 p.m. Monday in the 4500 block of Laurel Canyon Boulevard in Studio City, one block south of the Ventura (101) Freeway, according to the LAPD.
The officer had conducted a traffic stop on a white Ford Fusion and an altercation ensued, according to authorities.
“During the altercation, the suspect produced a firearm and fired several rounds, striking our officer multiple times,” Haver told reporters. “The suspect fled the scene.”
The 27-year-old officer, who has less than one year of service with the CHP, was hospitalized in serious condition, according to the agency. His name was not released.
Moore told NBC4 that the officer suffered multiple gunshot wounds, but his condition improved overnight and he was stable on Tuesday.
Police said the suspect drove to the apartment complex in the 7400 block of Haskell Avenue in Van Nuys after the shooting. The building was evacuated for several hours and the area around Haskell and Saticoy Street was closed while a SWAT team searched for the suspect but did not find him.
Investigators reportedly interviewed the suspect’s roommate at the scene.
Police searched the area for a white Ford Fusion with Oregon plates in connection with the shooting, KCAL9 reported. Police later found a Fusion outside the apartment complex that matched the description.