HPD officer shoots suspected car thief

08:02 AM CDT on Friday, September 11, 2009

By Kevin Peters / 11 News

HOUSTON—An officer shot a suspected car thief twice in the leg Friday morning. It all happened in the 8200 block of Lawn Street in north Houston just before 2 a.m.

Police say the officer, who was on routine patrol, spotted a car that ran a stop sign. The officer pulled in behind the car, ran the license plate and learned it was stolen. Just as he received that information, police say the suspect pulled into the driveway of what appeared to be a vacant home.

That’s when things took a strange turn. Police tell us the driver got out of his vehicle, began yelling at the officer and refused to comply with the officer’s orders. Police say he also reached into his waistband several times.

Investigators say the confrontation ended in gunfire, when the officer shot the suspect twice as he approached and continued to defy the officer’s commands. The suspect, whose name has not been released, is now recovering at an area hospital. He is expected to survive. Charges against the man are pending.

The officer was not injured in the shooting. Investigators also took a passenger of the vehicle into custody. They say he complied with the officer’s orders from the beginning. No names have been released at this time.