Charges Filed in Attack on Officer

Charges of attempted murder and assault with a deadly weapon were filed Wednesday against a man who allegedly drove into a policeman Sunday in what authorities said was the second attack on Hawthorne undercover officers in five days.

Jesus Castro, 30, of Hawthorne will be arraigned on the two felony charges when he is released from the jail ward at Los Angeles County-USC Medical Center, where he was in good condition after being shot in the left arm by officers.

Two men described by police as Castro’s accomplices also were shot during the confrontation in the parking lot of a machine shop at the corner of Yukon Avenue and 132nd Street. Carlos Lopez, 29, of Long Beach died of his wounds, while Nestor Largaspada, 25, was in stable condition at the hospital jail ward.

The bloody confrontation between police and the three men, all reputedly gang members, occurred at the end of a weeklong undercover operation by Hawthorne police to stop a rash of car burglaries and thefts, said Sgt. Vince Schiavi.