A West Hills man accused of assaulting a peace officer in connection with Tuesday’s alleged pole waving incident which ended in a police pursuit and shots fired by a deputy is scheduled to appear in court Thursday.
Sason Malca, 32, described by deputies as a self-employed resident of West Hills, was arrested on suspicion of assault with a deadly weapon on a peace officer, shortly before 10:10 a.m. Tuesday by officers with the County Services Bureau Patrol.
The County Service Bureau is responsible for the security of county buildings and county property in Los Angeles County.
Detectives with the Los Angeles County Sheriff Department’s Homicide Bureau, however, are in of the criminal investigation into the incident.
The incident, now under review, began Tuesday morning when LASD deputies responded to the Olive View Medical Center psychiatric emergency room to check on a mentally ill person armed with a metal pole.
When they arrived at the hospital, the suspect managed to jump into a running LASD vehicle and speed away, prompting a pursuit that wound through the San Fernando Valley and, briefly, through the Santa Clarita Valley and, specifically, Newhall.
The incident ended shortly after the suspect drove west on Roscoe Boulevard, then suddenly stopped just east of White Oak Avenue, accelerated backward and collided with a pursuing marked black and white patrol vehicle, Saldaña wrote in her news release issued Tuesday.
That’s when a deputy fired his service weapon, she wrote.
The suspect drove away, pursued again by deputies southbound on White Oak Avenue, until he suddenly pulled to the right and stopped on the west curb line of White Oak Avenue.
The suspect surrendered to deputies at a traffic stop and was treated for injuries suffered as a result of the deputy involved shooting.
He was not struck by a bullet, Saldaña wrote in Tuesday’s news release. His injuries, however, appeared to result from flying glass and debris.
Malca was taken to the hospital where he was treated and released for minor abrasions and lacerations to his upper body.
He was later taken to the Twin Towers Correctional Facility with bail set at $100,000.
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