Man Pleads Not Guilty In Shootout With Off-Duty Officer

SHERMAN OAKS, CA — A man pleaded not guilty Monday to charges that stemmed from a gun battle with an off-duty Los Angeles Police Department officer in Sherman Oaks in April.

Christopher Camarena, 24, was charged with one count each of attempted murder, second-degree robbery and possession of a firearm by a felon. He remains in jail on $2.205 million bail and is set to return to court on July 15.

Around 2:25 p.m. on April 28, the officer left his apartment and went to his car in an underground parking garage in the 5200 block of Vesper Avenue, near Van Nuys Boulevard and Magnolia Boulevard. LAPD Chief Michel Moore said the officer found the suspect sitting in his car, wearing his bulletproof vest and holding his gun.

"As he confronts the suspect ... an altercation ensues," Moore said. "That altercation turns into what we believe to be a gun battle between the both of them, with the suspect using the officer's primary duty weapon and the officer defending himself from that attack. This ensuing altercation goes through the subterranean garage in an easterly direction to the back side of this apartment and into an east-west breezeway, where the suspect is struck ... and falls to the ground."

The officer took back his gun from the suspect after he was wounded, before collapsing near his car from his injuries, Moore said.

Los Angeles Fire Department units arrived and took the officer to a hospital. The police chief said then that the officer suffered "traumatic" injuries and is "grateful to be alive."

An update on the current condition of the injured officer, identified as Michael Beyda, wasn't available Wednesday.

The wounded suspect was also treated by paramedics after being shot in the shoulder and arm. He was arrested that afternoon and remains in jail on $2 million bail.

"I am grateful," Moore said Wednesday afternoon at the shooting scene. "At the same time this is happening, we have an attempt murder that happened in West Valley involving a security guard and two other individuals in a shooting. And we're currently investigating an attack involving a family, involving young children, that were attacked by another family member.

"From what started out as a burglary, or what started out as simply as a theft into a vehicle... the senselessness of this escalating to this level of violence really has me extremely troubled," Moore continued.

Camarena was previously convicted in 2015 of assault with a deadly weapon other than a firearm and resisting arrest. He was also convicted in 2017 of driving or taking a vehicle without consent.

City News Service contributed to this report.