Third Arrest Over Officer Shot

FULLERTON (CNS) A third suspect in the weekend shooting of a Fullerton police officer was behind bars today, police said.

Andre Jones, 22, of Anaheim, was arrested Wednesday on suspicion of attempted murder of a Fullerton police officer, Fullerton police Sgt. Jeff Stuart said. He was being held in the Fullerton jail.

Police believe Jones and 29-year-old Marcos Allen Bush, of Santa Ana were in the vehicle that the Fullerton police officer stopped before getting shot early Sunday, Stuart said.

Co-defendant Sjanee Duhart, 27, of Riverside -- charged as an accessory - - was not in the vehicle, but is accused of trying to get rid of it later, Stuart said.

The officer remains hospitalized, but is expected to be released soon, Stuart said.

"He's doing good. We're hoping he'll be out of the hospital today or tomorrow,'' Stuart said. ``He's in good spirits and he's ready to get out of there.''

Fullerton and Anaheim police tracked down Jones Wednesday and arrested him near Knott and Lincoln avenues in Anaheim, Fullerton police Chief Dan Hughes said. Jones tried to run from police, Hughes said.

Jones was on parole and on a release related to the state law aimed to reducing overcrowding in state prisons, Stuart said.

Bush is scheduled to be arraigned Monday on one count each of shooting from a vehicle, assault with a semiautomatic firearm on a police officer, possession of a firearm by a felon and street terrorism, and three counts of shooting at a residence -- all felonies -- stemming from the Sunday morning shooting that followed a traffic stop.

The complaint contains sentence-enhancing allegations of criminal street gang activity, shooting a gun causing great bodily injury and having a 2009 prior strike conviction for making criminal threats.

Bush remains in custody without bail.

Arraignment also was scheduled Monday for Duhart, who is charged with being an accessory and faces a sentence-enhancing allegation of gang activity.

Duhart is accused of attempting to get rid of the Grand Prix Bush was driving, Stuart said. The car is registered to one of Duhart's relatives, he added.

She was arrested within two hours of the shooting by California Highway Patrol officers near Market Street and the Moreno Valley (60) Freeway in Riverside while driving the 2002 Grand Prix, police said.

Bush faces up to 60 years to life in prison if he is convicted, while Duhart could face up to seven years behind bars.

Anaheim police documented Bush as a gang member, according to prosecutors, who said the defendant was paroled after doing time for assault with a deadly weapon with force likely to cause great bodily injury, criminal threats and domestic violence.

The new charges were filed less than two weeks after a jury acquitted Bush of attempted murder.

Bush also was acquitted March 6 of carjacking and second-degree robbery in a case that involved a fistfight with a man accused of carrying on a relationship with the underage niece of Bush's girlfriend, according to his trial attorney, Doug Myers.

The wounded officer -- whose name has not been made public -- is scheduled to mark his eighth anniversary on the force in April, Stuart said. He is the recipient of a ``Distinguished Medal for Bravery'' for helping to save a suicidal suspect who led police on a pursuit from stabbing himself, Stuart said.

The officer's survival is due to a bullet-resistant vest he was wearing during the traffic stop at Woods and Knepp Avenues about 12:15 a.m. Sunday, Stuart said, noting that the bullet that hit the officer's chest slammed into him with the force of a baseball bat.

The officer sustained two bullet wounds to an arm and one shot to a leg.

Later that day, detectives developed information that led them to a home in the 3500 block of Cornelia in Anaheim.

Bush was arrested following a foot chase, during which he allegedly tossed aside a semiautomatic handgun that police recovered.

Ballistics tests are pending to determine if it was the gun used in the shooting of the officer, Stuart said.

Bush pleaded guilty on Oct. 2, 2008, in a domestic violence case and was sentenced to three years in prison. He was placed on three years of informal probation for a DUI conviction in 2011, according to court records.

Bush was charged with attempted murder, carjacking, robbery and street terrorism, as well as sentence-enhancing allegations of assault with a gun and inflicting great bodily harm, after an arrest on June 8, 2010, according to court records. He was acquitted of those charges earlier this month after a jury trial.

Posted by Karla Marquez