Police say officer shot in leg in good condition
BY STEVE E. SWENSON, Californian staff writer sswenson@bakersfield.com
A Bakersfield police officer was shot in the leg late Sunday night, but he is expected to be fine, police said.
Officer Isaac Aleman, 25, was shot in the thigh by an attempted robbery suspect at a southwest Bakersfield convenience store.
Related Info
GET WELL WISHES
If you want to send Officer Isaac Aleman a card, you may do so in care of the Bakersfield Police Department, P.O. Box 59, 93302.
OFFICERS SHOT IN RECENT YEARS
Sept. 20, 2009 -- Bakersfield Police Officer Isaac Aleman is shot in the leg by a 17-year-old attempted robbery suspect. The suspect was hit by return gunfire. Both the officer and suspect were in fair condition later on Monday. The incident happened at a 7-Eleven, 4647 Wilson Road.
December 6, 2008 -- Kern County Sheriff's Deputy Thomas Moore was shot in the face with a shotgun as he responded to a spousal abuse call in McFarland. Moore, 25, a two-year veteran, survived his wounds. The suspect, Juan Valdez Jr., 31, was ordered on Thursday to stand trial on attempted murder, assault with a firearm, spousal abuse and child cruelty charges in the case. He'll be arraigned Oct. 1.
Feb. 9, 2008 -- Bakersfield Police Officer Dennis Eddy is shot in the leg in a shootout with gang member Leon Anderson Jr., 36. Eddy lost his right leg below the knee three weeks later. Anderson was killed in the gun battle with two other officers. The shootings were ruled justifiable. Eddy returned to work in December with a prosthetic leg.
July 14, 2001 -- Bakersfield Police Officer Mick Gaines, 50, was chasing a shooting suspect in the 700 block of Flower Street. The suspect shot Gaines through his left forearm, and another bullet hit a soman in the foot behind Gaines. The officer moved away from the woman, got down on one knee and returned fire, killing the suspect, 31-year-old Tyron Johnson. The shooting was ruled justifiable.
A .380-caliber slug went all the way through Aleman's leg, police said. He was in fair condition in a hospital by Monday afternoon.
Aleman is the second police officer to be shot in the leg in the past two years.
Officer Dennis Eddy, now 40, lost his right leg below the knee in a February, 2008, shootout with gang member Leon Anderson Jr.
Anderson, 36, was killed in a gun battle with Eddy and two other officers. The police shootings were ruled justifiable.
Eddy returned to work in December with a prosthetic leg.
On Sunday night, Aleman was shot before he had a chance to draw his weapon, police said.
Police Chief Bill Rector said it was "pretty amazing" that someone would attempt to shoot a police officer.
"It shows the level of risk officers face day in and day out," Rector said.
Rector met with Aleman in the hospital Monday morning and said he was in "good spirits."
Aleman is married and is a former football standout at Shafter High School, graduating in 2002.
He graduated from the police academy in 2007.
He and 29-year-old Officer Aaron Stringer, a five-year veteran, responded just before midnight to a report of suspicious men wearing hooded sweatshirts at the 7-Eleven, 4647 Wilson Road.
They arrived within a minute of the call from a clerk. Stringer stayed at the front of the store while Aleman went to the back.
Stringer heard his partner yell "Stop" and then heard gunfire, police said.
Both Aleman and Stringer fired several shots at the gunman, hitting him multiple times in the upper and lower body, police said.
That gunman was 17-years old. He was also taken to the hospital and by Monday afternoon, he too was in fair condition. Police did not release his name because he is under 18.
A second suspect, 16, immediately surrendered and lay prone on the ground. Police recovered a pellet gun from him.
A third suspect ran away. Police were searching for him Monday. He's described as black male, 5-foot-10, 200 pounds, having a mustache and wearing red shorts.
Police will seek charges of attempted murder of a police officer, attempted robbery and conspiracy against the suspects.
Neither Aleman nor Stringer have been in any prior officer involved shootings, police said. Both will be placed on routine administrative leave pending the results of a shooting review board.
Rector noted he was very pleased with the aid provided by the Kern County Sheriff's Department and California Highway Patrol.
As police officers searched for the third suspect, deputies handled some of the police calls and highway patrol officers offered to handle any accidents, Rector said.
Most CommentedMost Popular
Since Karen Goh returned to Kern County from a publishing career in New York in 2004, she has helped foster a strong network of Christian leaders in government, politics, media, business and nonprofits.
A settlement has been reached in radio talk show host Inga Barks' sexual harassment lawsuit against former co-host Scott Cox and American General Media.
Is Kern County, as has widely been reported, really the expulsion capital of California? That's the question posed Friday by state Sen. Michael Rubio, D-Shafter, to 50 or so Kern County educators, elementary and high school district administrators and community leaders.
Here's a bit of news that I didn't expect. The Kern County District Attorney's office has launched an investigation into whether the Board of Supervisors' practice of routinely placing the job performance of County Administrative Officer John Nilon on the "closed session" portion of its agenda is...
Since Karen Goh returned to Kern County from a publishing career in New York in 2004, she has helped foster a strong network of Christian leaders in government, politics, media, business and nonprofits.
Bakersfield’s Faast Pharmacy is going out of business and will be acquired by the big chain CVS, it was confirmed Monday.
Young's Marketplace, an independent grocery store that's a Bakersfield institution, will close at the end of the week.
Amtrak is suing a Kern County truck driver for more than half a million dollars in connection with a 2010 train crash in Shafter that injured about 20 people.