Late-Night Intruder Gets More Than He Bargained For

A little before 3 a.m. Sunday, Luis Gasca’s young daughter cried out in the dark. From the garage downstairs, the Labrador puppy, Scooby, growled and barked. Frightened, Gasca’s wife shook him awake, just as a light flickered on, then off, downstairs.

Someone’s in my house, Gasca recalled thinking, suddenly very alert. Someone’s in my house.

That someone was an intruder rummaging around the downstairs of the Gascas’ Anaheim home--an intruder with seriously lousy luck. The Baxter Street house he targeted belongs to an off-duty Los Angeles police officer who patrols the gritty gang turf of South-Central.

Not long after the intruder slipped in--apparently through a kitchen window, police said--Gasca grabbed his 9-millimeter service pistol and headed toward the noise.

“Who are you? What are you doing in my house?” Gasca said he demanded of the heavyset man in loose clothing. “Put your hands up! Get down on the floor!”

When the intruder refused to comply--and when, Gasca said, he caught a glint of light from something in the man’s right hand--he fired and missed. The man scrambled outside, dropping a knife that police said came from Gasca’s kitchen counter. Nothing else was missing from the house, Gasca said.

The intruder’s bad-luck tale didn’t end there, police said.

A man arrived at the emergency room at Anaheim Memorial Hospital at about 10:20 a.m. seeking treatment for scrapes he said he received running through bushes and a puncture from spearing himself on the sharp point of a wrought-iron fence, police said. Alerted earlier by police, hospital staff were watching for such injuries.

Anaheim police arrested Myner Santiago Martinez, 22, about 11 a.m. Sunday after questioning him. Officials would not say what evidence they have connecting Martinez to the crime. The Anaheim resident was booked on suspicion of residential burglary and is being held in lieu of $25,000 bail, according to Lt. John Haradon.

Anaheim Memorial spokeswoman Laura Jaime said Martinez was treated for numerous cuts on his arms and legs and was released to police.

Anaheim police--who took Gasca’s pistol as evidence--are investigating the break-in and the shooting, while the Los Angeles Police Department will handle the administrative inquiry, said LAPD spokesman Mike Partain. He said the break-in does not appear to be related to Gasca’s work.

Both police agencies declined to discuss many details of the shooting, including how many rounds Gasca fired and whether he has shot his weapon before--either on or off duty.

Dressed in khaki shorts, a white T-shirt and Birkenstock sandals Sunday afternoon, Gasca said he shot in defense of himself, his wife and two young children. As he spoke, concerned family members and friends streamed into his home while music from an ice cream truck tinkled through his neighborhood.

The 5 1/2-year veteran of the LAPD said he feels fortunate that no one was injured. Even though he faces danger at work daily, Gasca said the intruder terrified him.

“You work with gang members, you chase them, you cover their crimes,” he said. “But you don’t expect anything like this to happen at home. But your training comes in handy. Like they say, you’re a police officer 24 hours a day, seven days a week.”

Gasca will return to the anti-gang beat later this week, Partain said.