Traffic Officer Taken for Ride on Car Hood

A city traffic officer in the process of writing a ticket was taken for a ride around the Wilshire district Tuesday night when he jumped on the hood of a car to avoid being hit by the car’s angry owner.

Marvin Portillo, a Department of Transportation officer, was issuing a ticket for an expired registration on a 1988 red Honda when the car’s owner, John Turk, threatened to run over him, officials said. A frightened Portillo jumped onto the car’s hood to get out of the way. Portillo, 21, held onto the hood and the windshield wipers as the car sped around the neighborhood. At one point Turk turned the wipers on, Portillo said.

While clinging to the hood, Portillo managed to pull out his radio and alert Los Angeles police. Turk was charged with assault with a deadly weapon, police said.