Shooting Victim Fights for Life After Surgery : Investigation: Part-time judge’s encounter with robber shocks courthouse colleagues. The attacker is still at large.

A Brea attorney known in Orange County’s legal world for his work as a law professor and substitute judge remained in critical condition Tuesday after four hours of surgery for gunshots suffered in what appeared to be a robbery outside a friend’s home in Orange.

Charles Edward Salovesh, 59, was hit twice in the upper body--one shot piercing his heart--during an exchange of gunfire with a man who demanded money after Salovesh parked his Cadillac on Monday night, police said.

The gunman, who apparently was not hurt during the exchange, made off with Salovesh’s wallet and at least $25, police said. Investigators said the motive for attack appeared to be robbery, but they did not rule out other possibilities.

The violent encounter shocked longtime friends at Municipal Court in Fullerton, where the mild-mannered Salovesh has spent much of his working life--as a deputy marshal, then as a lawyer and in recent years as a volunteer judge filling in on small claims and traffic matters.

“It was a shock to hear. . . . It just made me sick in the heart,” said Sgt. Kyle Thomas of the Orange County marshal’s office, who shared duties with Salovesh when the Fullerton court opened in 1970.

At the courthouse Tuesday, Thomas showed his junior colleagues a grainy police yearbook picture of Salovesh, an accomplished pianist and singer known to most as “Ched,” a hybrid formed from his first and middle names. “I guess this can happen to anyone, anywhere, nowadays,” Thomas said.

As Salovesh fought for his life at Western Medical Center-Santa Ana, investigators said progress in their hunt for the gunman was slow.

“We haven’t made any headway in finding the suspect,” said Orange police Lt. Timm Browne. “I wish we knew something about his whereabouts. But at this point, we don’t.”

Officials at Western State University College of Law in Fullerton had to find a last-minute replacement professor Tuesday afternoon for a criminal-procedures class that Salovesh has taught since 1992.

“Everybody’s pulling for him,” said Richard Jenkins, an associate dean who has known Salovesh since they attended the law school together in the 1970s. “We’re hoping everything turns out all right.”

At the Brea home owned by Salovesh and his wife, Renee, a woman declined Tuesday to comment on behalf of the family. The couple has two grown daughters.

Salovesh attended law school while working as a marshal, then joined the Anaheim city attorney’s office in 1978 to prosecute misdemeanors in the same Fullerton courthouse.

“He did very good work for us--very low key and law and order,” said Mark Logan, a senior assistant city attorney who was Salovesh’s supervisor.

Since retiring from the city prosecutor’s office in 1985, Salovesh has taught at local colleges and volunteered off and on as a judge pro tem in the Fullerton courthouse. He is among dozens of lawyers countywide who sit as judges on mundane traffic and small-claims cases when full-time judges are on vacation or cases are backlogged.

Salovesh has not been a practicing lawyer since 1990, according to the State Bar of California.

Municipal Court administrator William J. Brennan said that Salovesh presided only a handful of times each year and that it was “very unlikely” the shooting stemmed from one of his cases.

“This has been a shock for us,” Brennan said. “But of course we see a lot of people who are capable of doing things like this come through our doors all the time. It’s the state of our society. It’s sad.”

As an instructor in the police academy at Rio Hondo Community College in Whittier, Salovesh has taught legal principles to thousands of recruits and police officers taking refresher courses, according to the academy’s division dean, Frank Patino.

“The phone hasn’t stopped ringing all day,” Patino said. “People want to know if it’s really him they’re hearing about, and they want to know how he is. He’s touched a lot of people, and a lot of people are concerned for him.”

Investigators, who spoke with Salovesh before he underwent surgery, said the gunman demanded money as Salovesh parked in the 700 block of East Lake Drive. Salovesh handed over the wallet with $20, then another $5 when the man demanded more, police said.

When the robber began to pat down Salovesh for more money, investigators said, the attorney stepped back and drew his own handgun and started shooting. As a retired marshal, Salovesh was licensed to carry a concealed weapon, police said.

The only blood found at the scene belonged to Salovesh, although Browne said clothing was left nearby that may belong to the assailant.

The robber’s handgun, recovered at the scene, apparently malfunctioned after the first shots, Browne said. Salovesh’s handgun also was found nearby. Police said two shots were fired from the suspect’s gun and three from Salovesh’s.

A swarm of investigators and two bloodhounds failed to locate the fleeing gunman. Police described the robber as an African American in his 30s, about 6 feet tall and weighing about 180 pounds. He has short dark hair and wore an earring in his left ear, authorities said.

Richard E. Behn, a former law school classmate of Salovesh and the presiding judge at the Fullerton courthouse, described Salovesh as a “nice, somewhat meek guy” and said colleagues were at a loss to explain the shooting.

“I can’t imagine the circumstances that could have led to this,” Behn said.

Times staff writers Thao Hua and Karen D’Souza contributed to this story.

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Profile: Charles Edward Salovesh

Age: 59

Residence: Brea

Education: Graduate of Chicago’s LaSalle University; law degree from Western State University of Law, 1975

Professional background: Orange County marshal, 1966-1978; Anaheim deputy city attorney, 1978-1985; Orange County municipal judge pro tem, 1986 to present; Rio Hondo Community College Police Academy (Whittier) instructor, 1989 to present

Source: Times report; Researched by GEOFF BOUCHER / For The Times