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HUNTINGTON BEACH \u2013 A police officer\u2019s badge deflected a bullet heading for his heart in a gun battle during a car chase early Friday morning, officials said.<\/p>\n
The Huntington Beach officer suffered minor cuts from shattered glass.<\/p>\n
The incident began near Bushard Street and Yorktown Avenue after a man fled by car from his home when police arrived after midnight responding to a domestic-violence call.<\/p>\n
The man drove east on Yorktown with officers in pursuit. Abruptly, he made a U-turn and opened fire on the two approaching patrol cars, police said.<\/p>\n
\u201cOne of the bullets struck an officer in the badge,\u201d said Officer Jennifer Marlatt, a department spokeswoman.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe round came through the front windshield of the officer\u2019s car, struck the officer\u2019s badge and deflected off. The round did not go through the badge or hit the officer\u2019s (protective) vest,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
Both officers returned fire \u2013 one from the driver\u2019s seat of his moving patrol car, Marlatt said. The officers turned their cars around and continued the chase.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe pursuit reached high speeds and, at one point, we lost sight of the driver,\u201d Marlatt said.<\/p>\n
That occurred near Harbor Boulevard and the I-405 freeway. Costa Mesa police, joined by a Huntington Beach police helicopter, spotted the suspect\u2019s vehicle and continued the pursuit.<\/p>\n
It snaked along the northbound 55 freeway, the eastbound 91, then the northbound I-15. Along the way, the California Highway Patrol stepped in and took over the high-speed chase.<\/p>\n
Eighty-five or so miles after the pursuit began, the suspect lost control of his car and crashed down an embankment at Cleghorn Road in the Cajon Pass. The vehicle burst into flames, and the driver was killed.<\/p>\n
Police said the woman involved in the domestic dispute was OK but wouldn\u2019t release other details.<\/p>\n
As to the 10-year Huntington officer whose badge deflected the bullet, Marlatt said he was fine.<\/p>\n
\u201cAdrenaline kicked in, and he didn\u2019t even know he was hit until he pulled over in Costa Mesa,\u201d Marlatt said.<\/p>\n
The badge\u2019s position \u2013 which was on the edge of his body armor \u2013 may have prevented the bullet from striking flesh rather than the officer\u2019s protective vest, saving his life.<\/p>\n
The metal of police badges varies by department. Huntington Beach\u2019s are 100 grams of pure steel, Marlatt said.<\/p>\n
Police Chief Robert Handy spoke with the officer in the hospital and, later after he was released, at the stationhouse.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe\u2019s doing great,\u201d the chief said. \u201cHe\u2019s in really good spirits. … It\u2019s safe to say the badge saved his life … This officer was very lucky.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m super proud of these guys,\u201d Handy said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Aug. 26, 2016 Evidence markers litter the street on Yorktown Avenue Friday morning as Huntington Beach police officers and crime scene investigators work on the scene of the shootout between officers and domestic violence suspect Thursday night at the intersection of Yorktown Avenue and Bushard Street in Huntington Beach. SAM GANGWER , STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER … Continue reading Badge saves Huntington Beach police officer’s life in gun-battle car chase; suspect dies in fiery crash<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1],"tags":[],"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":314,"url":"http:\/\/www.bsbehindthebadge.com\/?p=314","url_meta":{"origin":386,"position":0},"title":"Police Chief: \u2018I Am Compelled To Speak\u2019","date":"September 5, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"Detective Benjamin Marconi of the San Antonio, TX Police Department was assassinated in front of his own police station on Sunday, November 20th. Less than a week before the majority of Americans will gather together to celebrate and give thanks for life, love, and family, the Marconi family is forced\u2026","rel":"nofollow","context":"In \"Publications\"","img":{"src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":424,"url":"http:\/\/www.bsbehindthebadge.com\/?p=424","url_meta":{"origin":386,"position":1},"title":"Survey says.....Cops are supported by the majority of people and are trusted more than the medical profession, politicians and the media.","date":"September 3, 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"Can't please all of the people all of the time, but overall , this country respects and wants good policing. The public speaks: Cops are trusted The results of a recent Gallup poll have tremendous implications for police officers and their agencies Aug 30, 2018 To misquote Mark Twain, it\u2026","rel":"nofollow","context":"In \"Publications\"","img":{"src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":415,"url":"http:\/\/www.bsbehindthebadge.com\/?p=415","url_meta":{"origin":386,"position":2},"title":"BS that Pot doesn't hurt anybody.....","date":"December 26, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"1 Calif. officer killed, another injured in Christmas Eve crash Rookie Officer Andrew Camilleri was killed when a suspected drunk driver slammed into the back of his patrol car Duty Death: Andrew Camilleri\u00a0- [Hayward, California] End of Service: 12\/24\/2017 Yesterday at 10:33 AM By\u00a0Erin Baldassari and Marisa Kendall East Bay\u2026","rel":"nofollow","context":"In \"Publications\"","img":{"src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.bsbehindthebadge.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/386"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.bsbehindthebadge.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.bsbehindthebadge.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.bsbehindthebadge.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.bsbehindthebadge.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=386"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"http:\/\/www.bsbehindthebadge.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/386\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":387,"href":"http:\/\/www.bsbehindthebadge.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/386\/revisions\/387"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.bsbehindthebadge.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=386"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.bsbehindthebadge.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=386"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.bsbehindthebadge.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=386"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}