Shootout on 32nd Street by: Stan Bressler
One day at the old station several guys were standing at the gas pumps talking and filling the cars with gas. The PM shift was just coming out so there were several guys standing around chatting. Dispatch put out a call that a male with the description of the car he was driving (I don’t remember what kind of car it was) had committed an ADW on a Costa Mesa Officer.
Someone looked up and noticed the car driving slowly down 32nd from Newport Blvd. What happened next was like the shooting at the OK Corral. As the car drove slowly by the pumps everyone, 8-10 officers drew there guns and started shooting. All the guns were revolvers and word has it that some of the guys had time to reload and empty their guns again. The car rolled to a stop and everyone rushed the car to find an elderly man slumped over the steering wheel. He had been grazed on the back of his head by one of the bullets. Fortunately his injuries were minor and the intoxicated driver survived the shoot out on 32nd. It seems that he had not committed an ADW on anyone he was just driving a little erratic.
The car was full of bullet holes but only one hit the driver. Just another exciting day at old Newport. This occurred in the mid 60’s but I don’t remember the exact year.