Santa Clarita / Antelope Valley : 2 Arrested in Effort to Steal Officer’s Car

Two men who tried to steal a car from an off-duty Los Angeles police officer Sunday night were foiled when the officer pulled a gun on the suspects and opened fire.

Authorities said Officer Jerry Dible, a member of the department’s fugitive detail, was traveling on Old U.S. 99 about 10 miles north of Santa Clarita about 7:30 p.m. when two men stood in the middle of the road and forced him to stop his car.

According to Sgt. Mitch Clark of the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department, 32-year-old Walter William Carpentier of Reseda walked up to the open driver’s side window and demanded that Dible and a female passenger get out of the vehicle.

Dible then pulled a revolver and pointed it at Carpentier, ordering him to move away from the vehicle. Clark said Carpentier then took a rock that he was concealing behind his back and threw it at the officer.

Dible fired once at Carpentier and missed, but it was enough to motivate both suspects to quickly move away from the vehicle, Clark said. He drove several miles to Castaic where he stopped a passing California Highway Patrol officer and reported the incident.

The CHP officer drove back to the scene, spotted the men walking down the middle of the road, summoned additional officers and arrested them.

Carpentier and Mike John Digusto, 20, of Canoga Park were booked on suspicion of attempted robbery and were held on $30,000 bail at the Santa Clarita Valley sheriff’s station.

The suspects have so far refused to speak with anyone since they were arrested, Clark said.

“We have no idea how they even got out there in the first place,” Clark said.