A call to investigate what was thought to be an abandoned vehicle turned into an officer-involved shooting in Palm Springs Friday.
Police said officers were dispatched to the back of apartment complex in the 200 block of Bonnie Boulevard to check on the vehicle.
Officers discovered a white pickup truck and said a check of the license tag indicated it was stolen.
As officers attempted to engage the pickup, they say the driver put it into reverse toward them.
"There was an encounter after it left the scene. An officer did discharge one of their weapons. Both of the people inside the vehicle did flee the vehicle," police spokesman Edgar Morley said.
The suspects, Peterson Joseph,19, and Angel Cancel, 18, drove about 2 blocks away to the corner of Davis Road and Springdale Court where they got out and tried to run, police said.
One man was caught quickly, and the other turned himself in after a perimeter was set up. He was the person who was shot and treated at the scene and then taken to St Mary's Medical Center.
Watching our newscast, Randall Roach recognized the stolen white truck as his neighbor's, which was taken July 10th in suburban Palm Beach County.
"Went down and talked to my neighbor, he said sure enough he said he got a call from police saying they did recover his truck," Roach told us in an exclusive interview.
Roach had his 2015 Ford Escape taken that same day. Police haven't said the two are connected.
Roach did some investigating on his own. His first stop, the Palm Springs Police Department.
"I spoke to Detective Hanson who was very helpful and he just mentioned that they had found the pickup truck as well as another stolen vehicle in some apartments off of Bonnie Blvd. so I came over here off of Bonnie Blvd and this is the first apartment complex I turned into and just went around the parking lot once and saw my car," Roach said.
Roach recognized a couple marks on his car and the wheels and called police.
"It feels great, it feels amazing. It's an answer to a prayer," he said.
Police recovered a third stolen car, a silver Lexus, in the same parking lot. They towed it away.
Driver's side window smashed out of truck. Occupant was shot by police. 2 suspects in custody. pic.twitter.com/Tfyq5JRC56
— Andrew Lofholm (@AndrewLofholm) July 14, 2017
This is where it started. Police responded to abandoned vehicle-which turned out to be stolen-driver apparently drove at police. pic.twitter.com/OPUZomk00H
— Andrew Lofholm (@AndrewLofholm) July 14, 2017
Right side of truck took some heavy damage. pic.twitter.com/H2Xer7s1I6
— Andrew Lofholm (@AndrewLofholm) July 14, 2017
Suspects are men, 1 was caught quickly. Other suspect was shot, turned himself in after perimeter was set up. Treated, taken to St. Mary's.
— Andrew Lofholm (@AndrewLofholm) July 14, 2017
Palm Springs Police investigating officer-involved shooting- say stolen truck, driver reversed in cops direction & cop shot suspect pic.twitter.com/zzxdtuIGen
— Jennifer Tintner (@JenniferTintner) July 14, 2017
