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Driver shot after allegedly biting deputy and reaching for gun

An investigation is underway in Compton, where a deputy shot and killed a 42-year-old man who bit him and tried to grab his gun during a struggle following a traffic stop.
(Al Seib / Los Angeles Times)
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A traffic stop in Compton turned violent early Thursday and left one man dead and a Los Angeles County sheriff’s deputy injured.

Shortly after midnight a passerby in Compton saw a person they believed was driving drunk and called authorities, Lt. Eddie Hernandez told KTLA.

A deputy pulled over the suspected drunk driver in the 1300 block of South Long Beach Boulevard and during the stop, the driver became “uncooperative” and “assaultive” with the deputy, Hernandez said.

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The driver bit the deputy in the arm during a struggle and reached for the deputy’s gun, he said. That’s when the deputy shot the driver, who died at the scene. The deputy was treated at a local hospital for non-life threatening injuries.

The identity of the driver was not immediately available. The sheriff’s department, along with the district attorney’s and coroner’s offices will investigate the shooting, officials said.

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Joseph.serna@latimes.com

@josephserna

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