Deputy Shot in Cocaine Raid Dies : CHP Officer Wounded in Separate Incident Also Lies Near Death

A Los Angeles County sheriff’s deputy died Saturday night at Los Angeles County-USC Medical Center after being shot in the head in a drug raid, officials said.

The deputy, Jack B. Miller, was serving a search warrant for cocaine along with a second deputy in the 1400 block of West 55th St. in South-Central Los Angeles when a gun battle erupted. Suspects inside a house began firing at the deputies at about 7 p.m. Friday.

Miller, 33, was shot in the head. A 12-year veteran, Miller underwent seven hours of surgery Friday night, Deputy Kathryn Nielsen said. He died at approximately 9:30 p.m. Saturday.

In an unrelated incident, police were seeking a man who allegedly shot a CHP patrolman in the face after being stopped for a routine traffic violation Saturday morning in Glassell Park.

Suspect Found Dead

Four of the suspects in the Friday drug raid surrendered immediately after Miller was shot. A fifth suspect--who was known to still be in the house--was discovered dead hours later after a SWAT team stormed the residence. The dead man, 20, was not identified pending notification of relatives. Deputies said it was not yet known whose gunfire had killed him.

Another deputy was wounded in the arm. Deputy John Dickenson, 29, an eight-year veteran, was listed in fair condition at Daniel Freeman Memorial Medical Center.

Inside the house, deputies discovered four handguns, a rifle and 202 grams of cocaine worth an estimated street value of $40,000.

Dorothy Waters, 41, a resident of the house, was charged with assault with a deadly weapon and possession of cocaine for sale. Two unidentified adults who surrendered were questioned and released, and a 17-year-old youth who surrendered was being held without charges, police said.

In the other shooting incident, Tino Silva, 26, of Glendale is suspected in connection with the shooting of Officer Gary Baker, who was in critical condition at Huntington Memorial Hospital in Pasadena.

Baker, a Verdugo Hills Division motorcycle patrolman, stopped a car that was speeding down a quiet residential street near a freeway off-ramp about 8:20 a.m., CHP spokesman Mike Maas said.

Team Worked 5 Hours

A team of neurologists worked on Baker, 32, for five hours. Authorities said the bullet entered Baker’s cheek and lodged in his brain. He is a 10-year veteran of the CHP, Maas said.

Baker stopped the silver-blue Datsun 300 ZX sports car, allegedly driven by Silva, on York Boulevard just west of the Glendale Freeway.

Maas said the driver got out and struggled with the officer for about five minutes, then pulled out a handgun, shot Baker in the left side of his face and sped off.

“I came out of my house to get my paper and I saw the officer talking to him (the driver) and the guy was waving his hands around,” said Paul Corlew, who has lived on the 4100 block of York Boulevard for 17 years. “I went back in and heard the shot and within seconds I saw the officer lying on the pavement bleeding.”

His gun still in his holster, Baker lay on his right side, trying to take off his helmet and wipe the blood off his face. One resident used the police radio to call for help, police spokesmen and witnesses said.

Baker was rushed to the hospital, spokesmen said, but his blood-spattered sunglasses and billy club lay behind police lines for most of the day, as CHP officers, Sheriff’s deputies and LAPD officers investigated.

Baker did not have time to take his gun out of his holster before he was shot, CHP Southern Division Cmdr. Edward Gomez said.

“Too many people are armed these days and unfortunately, when our people confront suspects, the individual who is armed has the advantage of surprise and our people don’t have the chance to react,” Gomez told reporters at a hospital press conference.

As Baker underwent surgery, his wife, Lisa, stood quietly with her head down, surrounded by family and friends in a hospital hallway. Nearby, a CHP officer wept and a social worker spoke with Gomez.

“We’re certainly very saddened, outraged would be a good word,” CHP Southern Division spokesman Mark Lunn said later. “It’s a travesty, but it’s one of the constant reminders of the dangers of our job and it happens all too often.”

Baker and his wife live in North Hollywood and have a 3-year-old daughter, Natalie.

In October, 1987, a CHP officer was shot in the face during a foot chase with a suspected motorcycle thief in a remote areas near Castaic Lake. The last CHP officer killed while on duty was in 1982, officials said.

Also injured in Friday night’s gun battle was a 17-year-old man, who was not identified because of his age. He was grazed by bullets during the initial gunfire and was shot in the arm later when he tried to escape from an ambulance.

Sheriff’s Department spokesman Hal Grant said the youth complained to Deputy Enedina Cortez that his handcuffs were too tight, then lunged for her gun when she attempted to loosen the cuffs.

“They struggled over the gun and he was shot,” Grant said.

The boy was taken to the County-USC Medical Center jail ward after being treated for two graze wounds and the more serious wound to his arm, he said.