Suspect Arrested After Evading Officer

Eric Loez, a twenty three year-old Whittier resident is in custody after assaulting a Whittier Police Officer while trying to flee from him. On May 13th at 1:45pm, the Officer was working a "Click or Ticket" seat belt enforcement assignment when he observed a vehicle drive by that had three males inside who appeared to be smoking marijuana. He made a traffic stop and pulled out the driver to talk about what he had observed when he heard glass break and realized they had thrown a glass pipe out of the car. While detaining the driver, the front passenger (Lopez) exited the car and fled the location.

The Officer chased the passenger and caught him as he was jumping a fence. While doing so, the suspect spun on the officer and punched him in the face. The passenger was then able to slip the Officer’s grip and continued to flee only into the arms of additional Officers. Lopez was arrested and the other two detainees were released at the scene. The officer did not receive any significant injuries and continued to work the duration of his shift while Lopez spent the night and subsequent days at the Whittier jail.