Officer Wounds Burglary Suspect

An off-duty Los Angeles policeman who wanted to read accounts of the Christopher Commission Report headed off before dawn Wednesday to purchase a newspaper and while en route wound up shooting a burglary suspect, officials said.

Training Division Lt. Ronald Seban was driving to a neighborhood newspaper rack in Granada Hills about 2:35 a.m. when he spotted two men running through a red light across Balboa Boulevard.

Seban followed the men, and one took aim at him with what appeared to be a handgun, said Lt. William Hall, who investigates officer-involved shootings. Seban replied with four rounds from his service revolver, striking one man in the thigh.

Carlos Meza Jr., 19, and a friend, Eric Garcia, 20, were later arrested after they turned up at Holy Cross Hospital. Meza later was reported to be in good condition at the County-USC Medical Center. Investigators said the two men are suspects in the burglaries of 16 cars at a nearby repair shop.

“This is the kind of police officer we hire,” Hall said. “He could have said, ‘Hmmmm,’ and kept driving down the street.”