Santa Ana police fatally shot a man who they said drove his car at officers who were investigating why he was in the car in a high crime neighborhood, police said on Friday.
The shooting happened at 12:45 a.m. on Friday on Maxine and Third streets, a high-crime neighborhood near an area known for prostitution, said Santa Ana Police Anthony Bertagna, a spokesman.
Patrol officers spotted the man in the backseat of a car. When they approached, police said, the man jumped into the front seat, put the car in gear and started to drive at the officers, in an attempt to “strike them,” Bertagna said.
“Obviously, someone sitting in a residential area by himself in the backseat of a car is suspicious,” Bertagna said.
The man was not immediately identified.
Bertagna said he didn’t know whether the man was armed, whether he was alone in the car or whether there was evidence the man had broken in or was attempting to steal the vehicle.
It was the second officer-involved shooting in the city so far in 2013, Bertagna said.
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A felon on parole who approached officers with a gun outside his Santa Ana home was shot by police last Friday.
