Area of Sandstone Sea Way, Sacramento
ELK GROVE — A Sacramento man is in critical but stable condition after he was shot and critically wounded by an Elk Grove police officer on January 26 after backing the car he had stolen into the officer.
Lance Bernaix, 23, allegedly stole a vehicle Tuesday morning at approximately 7:15 a.m. after he saw it idling in the driveway of a residence in Elk Grove. The owner and victim had been inside his home at the time and came out to find his car had been stolen.
He immediately got into another vehicle and went in search of his stolen car. When he spotted it, he called the Elk Grove Police. A police officer on motorcycle located the thief and attempted to pull him over. However, Bernaix pulled into a neighborhood on Sandstone Sea Way near Florin and Calvine roads and reached a dead end.
“The suspect put the car in reverse, hit the accelerator, striking the motor officer knocking him off his bike,” said Sacramento County Sheriff’s Department Spokesman Deputy Tony Turnbull. “The officer then discharged his firearm toward the suspect.”
Bernaix, who was still in the vehicle when he was shot, was apprehended and taken into custody by other police units who quickly came onto the scene.
Turnbull says Bernaix is suspected of assault with a deadly weapon (the stolen car) on a peace officer. The Sacramento Sheriff’s Department is investigating this crime because the theft occurred in the unincorporated area of the county.
The motorcycle officer, a 14-year veteran of the Elk Grove Police Department, was not injured.
