Jim Hardman, who was my long time partner in 11A pm during the early sixties. One night in 1963 he was on the way home and stopped at the store which was/is on Firestone Blvd between Compton Ave and Alameda St. He walked in on a 211 in progress and got caught in the cross fire between the owner and bad guys and was hit several times. He retired IOD in '64
Alexander Macarthur was shot in the back during a 998 with a gang member. His partner was Ron Duval. Al's vest saved his life and as a result DuPont Corp featured in a commercial. They were FPK OSS at the time but both pushed a black and white there too. Al's a Narco Sgt. and Ron is a Det. at OSS. Ron was not wounded.
ED GODFREY
WIELAND
Kenny Wieland was one of my trainees. He was actually ambushed near the ER entrance of Harbor General by a guy he and I had previous contact with and who had sworn he would kill a cop. Had Kenny not been at Harbor General when he was shot, he may not have made it. He hadn't been on his own too long but he was a darn good Deputy and, I'm sure, would have had an outstanding career if it hadn't been cut short by the injury.
JERRY BOYD
PICKERING
This incident ocurred in East Compton in 1971. Walt was a 1-man day car (14) called to investigate a possible 927D. Neighbors in an apartment house hadn't seen the woman occupant in several days. He entered the upstairs unit cautiously, calling her name. No answer. He had just concluded there was no one home when she suddenly jumped out of a closet and shot Pickering straight through the chest. She then ran out the front door. Walt, acting on adrenalin, instinct and training, pursued her to the top of the stairs and shot her multiple times (probably about 16 or 28, click ,click , click, etc.). She died. Miraculously, Walt was largely unhurt. The bullet passed completely through him without hitting anything vital. He was back to work in no time , laughing and joking as usual. It just wasn't his time. It turned out she was hopelessly schizo, 918. Too bad.
KIMBALL BROWNE
MC SWEENEY
James McSweeney was shot throught the arm and the bullet was stopped from entering his chest by his vest. His partner was Ed Oliver. This is the same James McSweeney that was killed on duty in a copter crash years later while working Narco. James was my trainee when he came to Narco. Good man.
I was on duty that day and Dep. Lavieri's wounded partner was Doug Smith Jr., his dad was a Sergeant at Lynwood, and his sister was a Deputy at SBI. Doug retired due to the wounds. The significant thing about Mike was that he was killed with his own gun. He courageously went after the suspect with Doug's gun, however he could not reload because one gun was a Colt Python and the other a K frame Smith. His speediloader would not fit.
BRAD WELKER
I was on duty the day Kenny was shot. He was working with another deputy, Coleman [unit17], I can't remember his first name. When he stopped at the entrance to the driveway at Harbor General he observed someone hiding in the bushes, told his partner what he saw and told him to "Come on" and exited the radio car. He ran towards the suspect and the other deputy, who was the bookman, took time to shuffle his reports, and put on his gloves and then exited the car. By then Kenny had been shot.
On the evening of January 15, 1998, off-duty Deputy Carlos Ponce arrived at Conroy's Flowers in La Mirada. Deputy Ponce noticed a man in the shop acting suspiciously with two teenage female clerks. Deputy Ponce selected some roses and returned to the counter to make his purchase. As Deputy Ponce began to walk out, the man pulled a gun on the counter girl and announced his intentions to rob the store. Deputy Ponce pulled out his handgun, identified himself as a deputy sheriff, and instructed everybody to go to the floor. Unfortunately, a patron entered the store and walked directly into Deputy Ponce's line of fire. The suspect turned and raised his weapon toward Deputy Ponce. Deputy Ponce fired at the suspect, but missed. The suspect returned fire, hitting Deputy Ponce in the face. Despite the incredible pain and blood flowing from his wound, Deputy Ponce managed to fire and wound the suspect, forcing him to flee the store. The bullet that hit Deputy Ponce shattered his jaw in four places before traveling down to his collarbone area. Despite his severe injuries, Deputy Ponce persevered through painful medical procedures and physical therapy. Remarkably, he returned to work within a year. Carlos worked Firestone Station, Firestone / Century OSS and went on to promote to Sergeant. He was recently assigned to Walnut Station.
