Shooting by Officer Under Investigation

NORTH HOLLYWOOD — One day after a 30-year-old San Fernando man was shot and critically wounded by a California Highway Patrol officer on a Hollywood Freeway offramp, authorities said Friday the driver baited the officer by tailgating him and swerving at his patrol car on the freeway just before the shooting.

“It was bizarre,” said Lt. Tony Alba, spokesman for the Los Angeles Police Department, which is conducting the criminal investigation into Thursday’s shooting. “It’s as if he was baiting the Highway Patrol officer into stopping him.”

Police identified the driver as Edward Pantoja, who remained in critical condition at Providence Holy Cross Medical Center with a punctured lung, broken rib and biceps wound.

Police said Friday that after speeding on the southbound Hollywood Freeway at Roscoe Boulevard, Pantoja slowed to let CHP Officer Ronald Valencia pass. Pantoja then apparently changed lanes and closely followed the officer.

After tailgating the black-and-white CHP patrol car, Pantoja sped past the officer and swerved in front of him, according to the LAPD.

At that point, according to the Police Department, Valencia turned on his siren and lights and followed Pantoja to the Hollywood Freeway offramp at Vineland Avenue, four miles south of Roscoe.

Valencia also called on his car radio for assistance in the event he had to pursue Pantoja through city streets.

When they were stopped at the offramp, Valencia, who has worked for the past seven years in the CHP’s West Valley office in Woodland Hills, walked up to the black Pontiac Fiero.

A KTLA-Channel 5 news crew, which happened to be passing on the freeway when the chase began, captured the next sequence of events on video: As Valencia approached, Pantoja tried to hit him with his car.

But Valencia ran in front of the car, yelling “Stop! Stop!” while Pantoja kept the car slowly moving at the officer. Valencia then fired several shots through the windshield on the driver’s side.

Pantoja drove off, but was captured minutes later in a parking lot at Lankershim Boulevard and Moorpark Street.

Asked why Valencia stood in front of the car, McDonald, of the CHP’s West Valley office, said: “He was not getting a response from the driver from behind or from the side.”

Although the CHP refused to discuss the shooting in detail, officials said Valencia’s tactics will be examined, including his decision to stand in front of the moving car.

“That’s being looked at--absolutely,” said Sgt. Ernie Garcia, a CHP spokesman.

Valencia, 38, was placed on administrative duty until the Highway Patrol’s internal investigation of the shooting is complete. He was alone in his patrol car and driving his regular route when the incident began shortly before noon.

Pantoja, who police said is not currently on probation or parole, probably will face a felony assault charge for striking the officer with his car, according to the LAPD.

Valencia was treated for minor injuries at a local hospital and released, the CHP said.