Long Beach police on Wednesday released some security and body camera video detailing how an attempted murder suspect crashed into several vehicles and tried to evade arrest before being shot last month in Montebello.
The footage shows what happened during the encounter at the Chevron gas station in the 500 block of North Garfield Avenue that ended with one LBPD detective shooting and wounding 33-year-old Montebello resident Oscar Alejandro Ramires on the afternoon of Oct. 31.
Police say detectives were in Montebello that afternoon to conduct surveillance on Ramires and arrest him after they identified him as a suspect in the attempted murder of a woman in North Long Beach a month earlier.
While conducting surveillance, the detectives saw Ramires get into his car and then head to the Chevron gas station, according to police.
Surveillance footage from the gas station shows a man, whom police identify as Ramires, standing in the parking lot next to a dark sedan.
When police appear to drive by and stop in the frame, the person gets back into the dark sedan and begins pulling out of the parking space.
A marked squad car can be seen quickly swooping into the parking lot, blocking the sedan’s exit, while an undercover officer in an unmarked car boxes in the vehicle.
While the driver seemingly tries to find a way to get out of the gas station lot, the sedan crashes into multiple vehicles, including a civilian car that appears to be getting serviced.
As the sedan’s driver attempts to squeeze through a small gap next to an undercover car, a detective shoots at him, the video shows.
Footage from that detective’s body camera shows him yelling “Stop, stop,” while pointing his weapon at the dark-colored sedan. As the driver of the sedan is about to ram into the undercover car to clear a gap, the detective can be heard firing two rounds before tumbling out of the car due to the impact of the crash.
“I shot, I shot him,” the detective can be heard telling another officer. Security footage from the gas station then shows the driver of the dark-colored sedan crashing into more vehicles, at one point narrowly missing another officer, as he drives away from the lot.
After evading arrest at the gas station, Ramires, according to police, drove less than a quarter of a mile before crashing into another vehicle at the intersection of Via Altamira and West Via Acosta, disabling his own car in the process.
Ramires continued on foot northbound, according to police, but detectives later located him in the parking garage of an apartment building a block away from his residence.
There, they placed him under arrest and discovered he had been shot, police said.
Body camera footage from one of the officers in the parking garage shows Ramries lying face-down with his hands up. His breathing is labored as one officer can be heard asking, “Where are you shot so we can help you, man?”
The officers can be seen rendering aid to Ramires shortly before Montebello Fire Department personnel arrived at the scene and transported him to a hospital where he was listed in stable condition.
Following his arrest, the Los Angeles District Attorney’s office charged Ramires in connection to the earlier shooting on Sept. 25 with one count each of attempted murder, assault with a semi-auto firearm and dissuading a witness by force or fear.
He now faces an additional four counts of assault with a deadly weapon and one count of assault upon a peace officer as a result of his encounter with police on Oct. 31, police said.
The Los Angeles County District Attorney’s office will conduct its own investigation of the police shooting, as it typically does. The LBPD said it will also be conducting an investigation.