California Officer Runs Over Gun-Wielding Suspect with Patrol Car

Issac M. Ornelas suffered head injuries and a broken leg in the crash, said San Bernardino police Sgt. Vicki Cervantes. Ornelas remained hospitalized Friday morning.

Issac M. Ornelas, 21, of San Bernardino, is accused of fleeing officers, exiting his vehicle, and then pulling out a gun. A pursuing officer, in fear of his safety, ran over Ornelas. He is expected to survive. (Photo: San Bernardino PD)Issac M. Ornelas, 21, of San Bernardino, is accused of fleeing officers, exiting his vehicle, and then pulling out a gun. A pursuing officer, in fear of his safety, ran over Ornelas. He is expected to survive. (Photo: San Bernardino PD)

A 21-year-old San Bernardino, Calif., man was run over by a Colton Police squad car after he led officers on a chase and pulled out a gun, police said.

Issac M. Ornelas suffered head injuries and a broken leg in the crash, said San Bernardino police Sgt. Vicki Cervantes. Ornelas remained hospitalized Friday morning.

The incident began at 12:36 a.m. Friday, Aug. 21, while he was driving a white Cadillac Escalade along South Mt. Vernon Avenue in Colton, where Colton police spotted him swerving between lanes and attempted to pull him over.

A brief car chase through a residential neighborhood hit 65 mph.

"As he drove north in the 700 block of South J Street, he slowed down, opened the driver's door and exited the moving vehicle," Cervantes said in a written statement. "As he exited, ... officers and a witness observed Ornelas holding a handgun," the Press Enterprise reports.

That's when the officer, fearing for his life, drove into and over the suspect, Cervantes said.

A loaded -- and stolen -- handgun was recovered at the scene.

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