Police Assaults Orange County

Two men were in police custody Friday as the suspected gunmen who shot an unarmed, off-duty Los Angeles County Sheriff's deputy execution-style during a takeover robbery. The deputy, 26-year-old Shayne York, remained in critical condition late Friday with major brain damage, and his family was faced with deciding whether to disconnect the breathing apparatus keeping him alive. He was not expected to survive.

Four Garden Grove police officers injured by a man who hit them with metal barbell plates were in good condition Thursday, authorities said. The officers, whose names were not released, were treated at the scene by paramedics and at a hospital for bruises and lacerations. Three were released shortly after the Wednesday night confrontation; the fourth was held for overnight observation.

A man who allegedly attacked a police officer with his skateboard was captured moments later by two other law enforcement officials and arrested on suspicion of assault, authorities said Wednesday. The officer, whose name was not released, had just stepped out of his patrol car about 9 p.m. Tuesday to check on a disturbance at a gas station in the 21500 block of Brookhurst Street when a man hit him in the face with a skateboard and began pummeling him, Lt. Dan Johnson said.

Anaheim Police Officer Thomas "Kasey" Geary, shot point-blank in the face, got a fleeting glimpse of death and brushed it aside. "I remember lying there, looking up the stars. I remember reaching for my radio," he said haltingly. "I decided not to give up. I decided I was not going to lie there and die."

Two lifeguards at Bolsa Chica State Beach were beaten and one had his gun stolen Saturday night when they attempted to break up a fight among gang members, police said. Police arrested 11 suspects and are seeking several others in the brawl, which erupted when the lifeguards attempted to arrest a man who had been in an earlier fight. One lifeguard is in stable condition at a Long Beach hospital where he was taken by helicopter, according to police.

A Placentia police officer was shot and wounded outside a bar by a woman's outraged boyfriend, who was later cornered by police and killed in a gun battle on a gravel vacant lot, authorities said Friday. The 32-year-old officer, a five-year veteran whose name was being withheld by authorities, was in stable condition at United Western Medical Center-Santa Ana after three hours of surgery for an abdominal wound.

After searching the 11-story Orange County Courthouse in vain early Monday, law enforcement officials ended their hunt for an armed intruder who 16 hours earlier had yelled out to an officer, "You will all die tomorrow." Heightened security measures, however, were in force at the courthouse Monday as business commenced.

An out-of-work Lake Forest factory worker confessed to investigators that he shot and killed an Orange County sheriff's deputy outside a convenience store early Saturday, law enforcement sources said Sunday. Maurice Gerald Steskal, 39, was arrested less than six hours after the shooting as he drove away from his apartment just blocks from where a gunman riddled the deputy's patrol car with an assault weapon.

A fire broke out Friday night in an Anaheim condominium complex where a 36-year-old man suspected of beating his wife had been barricaded for six hours, keeping police at bay by firing shots at them, officials said. About 9 p.m., the man became agitated and fired several rounds at a police SWAT team that had surrounded the building, Police Sgt. Joe Vargas said. Vargas said the man yelled at officers: "Anybody comes in here, I'm going to blow them up."

A Westminster police officer responding to another officer's call for backup was injured Sunday in a collision, authorities said. An officer had requested assistance after two males fled on foot during a routine traffic stop near Bushard Street and McFadden Avenue at 10:41 p.m. During the chase, the two struck the officer twice with a shovel, said Sgt. Jack Davidson. The officer was slightly injured when his attackers knocked him to the ground before they fled.