An Anaheim man has been booked for attempted murder after police say he shot a man in the head, fled the scene in a U-Haul truck, then led multiple law enforcement agencies on a high-speed chase before a SWAT team finally took him into custody.
Garden Grove police received reports at about 2:45 a.m. Saturday that a man had been shot at a home in the 5300 block of Santa Barbara Avenue, authorities said. When officers arrived at the scene, they found a man in the back bedroom with a gunshot wound to his head.
Witnesses told police that they saw Ali Samoodi, 51, take off in a rented U-Haul after the shooting. They said Samoodi was in a relationship with the man who was shot.
The victim, who remains unnamed, was rushed to a local hospital where he remains in critical condition, police said.
Detectives tracked the U-Haul to the city of Menifee, about 65 miles away in Riverside County, where Menifee police attempted to pull the truck over.
“The suspect failed to stop and led Menifee Police Department, Riverside County Sheriffs and the California Highway Patrol on a high speed pursuit for approximately 33 miles,” the Garden Grove Police Department said in a statement.
The suspect finally stopped in Bloomington in San Bernardino County near the 10 Freeway after multiple traffic collisions left the U-Haul no longer operable, police said. Refusing to get out, he barricaded himself in the vehicle until a SWAT team from the Riverside County Sheriff’s Department arrived and took him into custody.
“The suspect did not sustain any injuries,” authorities said, and was later booked at the Orange County Jail for attempted murder.
The shooting is still under investigation. Authorities are asking anyone with additional information to contact Garden Grove Police Det. Terra Ramirez at (714) 741-5839. Tipsters who would like to remain anonymous can call Crime Stoppers at (800) 222-TIPS, (800) 222-8477.
