Police Assaults Northern California

An ambushed sheriff's deputy was in critical condition Tuesday after a gunman shot him in the head and abdomen and shot the lock off his van to free a prisoner, authorities said. The attack occurred two miles from the state Capitol in the parking lot of a medical building where the prisoner had been taken for an eye care appointment.

Two Modesto police officers were critically injured Friday during a shootout at a jewelry store, and a car full of suspects fled the scene, leaving behind a dead accomplice. The names of the officers--both veterans--were not immediately released. They were taken to local hospitals as police launched a search for a getaway car that had a woman at the wheel.

A manhunt has ended with the arrest of a second suspect in the July 29 shooting of a California Highway Patrol officer whose life was saved by a bulletproof vest. Matthew Lee Allen, 34, was arrested at his Vallejo home, a CHP spokesman said. Officer Eugene Mulata was shot twice in the chest and four times in the back after making a traffic stop near Crockett. Because he was wearing a bulletproof vest, he suffered only minor injuries. Investigators said Allen handed a .

A man suspected of shooting a sheriff's deputy and then ramming his van into a patrol car is a prison escapee who has been on the loose since 1975, authorities said Saturday. Robert Earl Olmsted, 46, escaped from state prison while serving a sentence for shooting two California Highway Patrol officers, said Sacramento County Sheriff Glen Craig. It was unknown where Olmsted has been for the past 23 years.

Former Jefferson Starship lead singer Grace Slick was released on bail Saturday morning after being booked on charges of felony assault and felony brandishing a weapon at a police officer. Officers from the Tiburon Police Department went to the singer's Marin County home after receiving a call at 3:30 a.m. Saturday from an apparently intoxicated man who said a drunken woman was firing a shotgun in the house, the police report said.

A bulletproof vest saved the life of a California Highway Patrol officer when he was shot six times during what began as a routine traffic stop, authorities said. Eugene Mulata, 32, was in fair condition at John Muir Hospital with bruises on his chest and a shallow wound in the back, for which he will undergo surgery today. The attack occurred on California 4, near Martinez, when Mulata, a seven-year CHP veteran, stopped a vehicle that turned out to be stolen.

Rocks and bottles were tossed at police and small fires were set when officers clashed with protesters marking the 21st anniversary of the founding of People's Park. Six adults and one juvenile were arrested during the weekend disturbance, police said. The charges ranged from warrants to felony assault, according to Police Chief Ronald Nelson. He said the trouble started when a crowd of about 150 marched toward the campus and built a bonfire, which was quickly extinguished by police.

A sheriff's deputy was shot in the back and a second was hurt in a car crash after a bizarre attack Friday by at least one man wearing four bulletproof vests, deputies said. The suspect's van and a patrol car burst into flames after the head-on crash. About 75 people in a square-mile area were evacuated for several hours because the van's driver told a deputy that ammunition and a pipe bomb were inside. Investigators found fragments of a possible bomb and a second, live pipe bomb.

A firebomb exploded at the home of Fremont Police Chief Craig Steckler early Sunday as he and his family slept inside, but nobody was hurt, police said. Later in the day, authorities found a second explosive device in front of the home of former Police Chief Robert Wasserman, now a City Council member. That one was safely disarmed. No motive for the two incidents was known. The 4:16 a.m.

The owner of a pit bull opened fire on police trying to take his dog into quarantine Wednesday, starting a shootout that left him, his father and one officer dead. The dog had bitten at least three people in recent weeks and was overdue for its rabies vaccination, Lt. Mike Sims said. The 21-year-old dog owner repeatedly refused officers' demands to take the animal in for routine tests and would not let authorities take the it from him, Sims said.

A sheriff's deputy was shot in the back and a second was hurt in a car crash after a bizarre attack Friday by at least one man wearing four bulletproof vests, deputies said. The suspect's van and a patrol car burst into flames after the head-on crash. About 75 people in a square-mile area were evacuated for several hours because the van's driver told a deputy that ammunition and a pipe bomb were inside. Investigators found fragments of a possible bomb and a second, live pipe bomb.

A firebomb exploded at the home of Fremont Police Chief Craig Steckler early Sunday as he and his family slept inside, but nobody was hurt, police said. Later in the day, authorities found a second explosive device in front of the home of former Police Chief Robert Wasserman, now a City Council member. That one was safely disarmed. No motive for the two incidents was known. The 4:16 a.m.

Former Jefferson Starship lead singer Grace Slick was released on bail Saturday morning after being booked on charges of felony assault and felony brandishing a weapon at a police officer. Officers from the Tiburon Police Department went to the singer's Marin County home after receiving a call at 3:30 a.m. Saturday from an apparently intoxicated man who said a drunken woman was firing a shotgun in the house, the police report said.

The owner of a pit bull opened fire on police trying to take his dog into quarantine Wednesday, starting a shootout that left him, his father and one officer dead. The dog had bitten at least three people in recent weeks and was overdue for its rabies vaccination, Lt. Mike Sims said. The 21-year-old dog owner repeatedly refused officers' demands to take the animal in for routine tests and would not let authorities take the it from him, Sims said.

A Hayward police officer was in critical condition Thursday after a shootout that left a suspect dead and two other officers wounded. Sgt. Kenneth Gross, 45, underwent two surgeries at Castro Valley's Eden Hospital after the gun battle at 11:30 p.m. Wednesday. He was wearing a bulletproof vest and was shot in the chest and back, according to hospital spokeswoman Cassandra Phelps. A 32-year-old officer shot in the left hip was in fair condition, Phelps said.

An ambushed sheriff's deputy was in critical condition Tuesday after a gunman shot him in the head and abdomen and shot the lock off his van to free a prisoner, authorities said. The attack occurred two miles from the state Capitol in the parking lot of a medical building where the prisoner had been taken for an eye care appointment.

Four teen-agers arrested after an October melee with police have been charged with attacking police officers, but the Alameda County district attorney's office said no charges would be filed against a fifth teen-ager. The charges were filed Thursday, and the four could be sentenced to up to 16 months in a locked youth facility. Three were charged with battery on a police officer, the fourth with assault.

Charges against a teen-age couple accused of shooting the girl's 34-year-old mother, fleeing to the San Francisco Bay Area and shooting at Northern California law enforcement officers will be consolidated into a single case, a Ventura County prosecutor said Monday. Both juveniles had previously been charged by Ventura County officials with attempted murder, conspiracy to commit murder and auto theft.

Charges against a teen-age couple accused of shooting the girl's 34-year-old mother, fleeing to the San Francisco Bay Area and shooting at Northern California law enforcement officers will be consolidated into a single case, a Ventura County prosecutor said Monday. Both juveniles had previously been charged by Ventura County officials with attempted murder, conspiracy to commit murder and auto theft.

The Butte County district attorney wanted to send a message to drug dealers to clear out of the county. So Mike Ramsey had one of his narcotics investigators tool around town in a 1980 Corvette that had been seized in a drug raid, just to make the point. Soon, drug dealers sent their own message right back. The midnight-blue Corvette was fire-bombed one night as it sat in the investigator's driveway.