SAN FRANCISCO Off-duty officer shoots car burglar

[j_shady]

An off-duty San Francisco police officer shot and wounded a man who broke into his car Tuesday night, police said.

The officer, who was not identified, had parked his gold Jeep on Julian Avenue in the Mission District and was returning to it when he saw a man sitting inside the Jeep, said police spokeswoman Maria Oropeza.

Oropeza said there was a confrontation between the off-duty officer and the man that ended with the officer shooting the man once while the man was still inside the Jeep. Oropeza said she did not know if the man was armed.

Police received a call about the shooting at 8:30 p.m., Oropeza said.

The man was transported to San Francisco General Hospital, where he was being treated for the gunshot wound. His condition was unknown.

The officer was placed on administrative leave, as is routine during the investigation of officer-involved shootings.

Police sealed off the area on Julian near 16th Street with crime-scene tape. The Jeep's passenger-side door was open, and a bag of take-out food was sitting on the sidewalk several feet from the car door.

Oropeza said she believed the officer might have been returning to his car with the bag of food when he encountered the would-be car thief.

(source:SFgate.com)