WALNUT – A sheriff’s deputy shot and wounded a man who struck the deputy with a pickup truck early Friday, authorities said.
The suspect, whose name was not available, was hospitalized with injuries not believed to be life-threatening following the 2 a.m. incident on Lemon Avenue, between La Puente Road and Valley Boulevard, Los Angeles County sheriff’s Deputy Kim Manatt of the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Headquarter’s Bureau said late Friday in a written statement.
A deputy was patrolling when he spotted a “distraught” woman walking alone and approached her to check on her well-being, Manatt said.
“Moments later, a male adult in a white vehicle approached from southbound Lemon Avenue and yelled to the deputy, claiming the female was his girlfriend and to release her,” according to the deputy. “From a distance, the deputy instructed the male to step out of his vehicle and speak to him. The male suspect did not comply, but instead drove his vehicle directly towards the deputy, striking the deputy and knocking him to the ground. During this time, a deputy-involved shooting occurred.”
The wounded man continued driving and traveled about 200 feet before striking the center median and disabling his pickup truck, officials said. He continued to flee on foot, but was apprehended by other deputies.
The deputy was treated at the scene for minor injuries, and the woman was not arrested, police said.
Investigators at the scene examined the vehicle — a white Toyota pickup truck stopped diagonally in northbound traffic lanes of Lemon Avenue. There were two bullet holes in the windshield in front of the driver’s seat, the driver-side window was shattered and the headlights were on.

PHOTO: Sheriff’s investigators examine a pickup truck at the scene of a deputy involved shooting on Lemon Avenue, just north of Valley Boulevard, in Walnut on Friday, Feb. 1, 2013.