S.D. Officer Wounds Auto Theft Suspect

A 24-year-old auto theft suspect was shot and wounded by a San Diego police officer early Tuesday after the man reached for what the officer thought was a weapon, police said.

Michael Harris of South 36th Street was pulled over near the 2000 block of Dale Street by Officer Alan Alvarez, who was responding to a report of a stolen pickup truck nearby on 30th Street, police said.

“The officer walked up to the driver’s side and saw the man’s hands move quickly as if he were going for a gun,” Police Department spokesman Bill Robinson said.

Alvarez believed Harris was armed and fired once, shattering the window and striking Harris in the left cheek, Robinson said.

Harris sped off in the pickup to a dead end at Hawthorn Street several blocks away, where he jumped out of the still-moving vehicle and ran away, police said. The pickup truck, which had been stolen, struck two parked cars before stopping.

Harris was arrested near 29th and Hawthorn streets moments later and taken to Mercy Hospital, police said.

Harris was listed in good condition Tuesday at the hospital, a spokeswoman said.

No weapon was found in the pickup or in the area of the incident, Robinson said.

The truck was reported stolen about 12:08 a.m., police said. Nearby, on the 2000 block of Dale Street, police found another stolen vehicle with its engine running.

An internal Police Department investigation is being conducted--standard procedure in officer-involved shootings, Robinson said.

Alvarez, 24, who has been a police officer for three years, has been reassigned to administrative duty pending the outcome of the investigation, another standard move in such incidents, Robinson said.