Vallejo police shoot suspect, who flees

Stacy Hawthorne Stacy Hawthorne Photo: Vallejo Police Photo: Vallejo Police Image 1 of / 1 Caption Close Vallejo police shoot suspect, who flees 1 / 1 Back to Gallery

A Vallejo police officer shot a man after the suspect tried to run the officer over with a car, authorities said.

The suspect, Stacy Hawthorne, 21, fled after the shooting and hasn’t been arrested. Police believe he was shot in the leg.

The incident began about 7:30 p.m. Saturday when officers responded to reports of two men fighting in the parking lot of the Motel 6 at 1455 Enterprise St., said Vallejo police Lt. Kenny Park. Officers were told that one of the men said he was going to get a gun and that he was seen going into a room on the second floor of the motel, Park said.

Officers arrived in the parking lot and saw Hawthorne leaving the room, police said. They called out to him, but he continued walking along the second-story walkway and then jumped to the ground, nearly landing on an officer, Park said.

The officer tried to detain Hawthorne, but he escaped and ran to a nearby Kia auto dealership on Sonoma Boulevard, where he “forcibly stole a vehicle from an unsuspecting victim, drove in a reckless manner and attempted to run over an officer with the car,” Park said.

The officer fired his weapon, but Hawthorne sped out of the parking lot, crashing through a locked security gate, police said.

The car was later found abandoned on Sacramento and Redwood streets, less than 2 miles away. A witness told police that a man with a gun was seen running from the area, Park said.

A search failed to turn up Hawthorne, who has ties to Vallejo and Contra Costa County, Park said.

Henry K. Lee is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. E-mail: hlee@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @henryklee