Suspect in Two-County Car Chase in Serious Condition

ANAHEIM — A Lancaster man, who was wounded by police during a chase through two counties after he allegedly stole a spear gun from a Newport Beach dive shop Wednesday, remained in serious condition Thursday in an Orange County hospital jail ward.

Gregory Michael Cabral, 35, was under Orange County sheriff’s guard at Western Medical Center in Anaheim with a gunshot wound to his wrist and superficial gunshot wounds to his head and chest.

So far, he faces charges of felony evading arrest but more charges are pending, said Newport Beach police Lt. Doug Fletcher. Bail was set at $25,000.

Cabral is scheduled to be arraigned in Harbor Municipal Court in Newport Beach at 8:30 a.m. today, depending on his medical condition, a jail spokesman said.

The chase that ended up as a long-running drama on many Los Angeles television stations ended shortly before 6 p.m., when Cabral, after 40 minutes of ignoring officers’ commands, finally staggered out of his stalled red pickup on the westbound 210 Freeway near the Lowell Avenue exit in Glendale, walking unsteadily and bleeding.

CHP officers holding him at gunpoint handcuffed Cabral, who appeared to pass out as Los Angeles Fire Department paramedics prepared to move him to a waiting ambulance.

Police recovered the stolen spear gun in Cabral’s truck, Fletcher said.

The pursuit started about 4 p.m. after Newport Beach K-9 officers spotted Cabral driving a red pickup north on Pacific Coast Highway. Recognizing the car’s description from a police radio report of a petty theft at a local dive shop, the officers followed the man through Huntington Beach.

Police caught up with Cabral in heavy traffic on Bellflower Boulevard near Atherton Street in Long Beach. Two officers from Newport Beach and one from Seal Beach police departments approached Cabral’s truck and ordered him out, Fletcher said. Cabral allegedly refused and an officer doused him with pepper spray.

Fletcher said Cabral then accelerated toward one of the Newport Beach police officers who opened fire, wounding Cabral.

The officer who wounded Cabral has been placed on administrative leave pending the outcome of an investigation--a standard procedure, Fletcher said. He declined to identify the officer.