Police seeking man they say was struck by CHP officers’ gunfire after pursuit

San Diego police are looking for an 18-year-old man they believe was struck by gunfire after two California Highway Patrol officers fired their guns at an SUV that rammed into their patrol vehicle.

Police asked the public to help find the man “to ensure he receives adequate medical treatment,” Lt. Matt Dobbs said. The lieutenant said investigators also want to interview him.

Dobbs said police have talked to the man over the phone, and that he said he had been shot.

The man was a passenger in the SUV, which was stolen in a carjacking in Escondido about two hours before the vehicle was involved in a pursuit that led to the shooting in Serra Mesa.

The two CHP officers had spotted the red Acura MDX speeding and swerving on Interstate 805 near Murray Ridge Road just after midnight Monday, Dobbs said. There were two passengers in the SUV.

The driver pulled off on Phyllis Place, only to take off when the officers approached the SUV. The officers gave chase a short distance until the driver hit a dead end on Encino Avenue.

As the officers got out of their vehicle, the SUV driver made a Uturn and accelerated toward the patrol vehicle, Dobbs said. Both officers fired their guns. They were identified Thursday as Michael May, an 18-year veteran of the force, and Pedro Gonzalez, who has been with the CHP for seven years.

As the driver took off, the SUV hit the patrol vehicle, pinning one of the officers — police did not say which one — “between the door and the patrol vehicle,” Dobbs said. That officer was taken to a hospital for treatment of minor injuries and later released.

Police found the SUV abandoned nearby on Royal Crescent Court. Soon after, officers detained a 17-year-old girl and a 21-year-old man identified as the driver, Dobbs said Thursday.

The girl was later released. The suspected driver, George Angel Cisneros, was booked into jail on suspicion of assault with a deadly weapon on a police officer, according to Dobbs and online jail records.

Police have been unable to locate the man who was shot. Dobbs said he is “a possible suspect” in the carjacking and has an outstanding warrant out for his arrest in connection with an unrelated case.

Anyone with information about the incident was asked to call the San Diego police homicide unit at (619) 531-2293 or Crime Stoppers at (888) 580-8477.