Jan. 08--Authorities have arrested a man they said attempted to commit "suicide by cop" after ramming into a patrol car with the hope of provoking a deputy to shoot him.
Los Angeles County sheriff's officials said Daniel Hoon Chang rear-ended Deputy Maria Ramirez's patrol car about 5:15 a.m. Tuesday while she was driving on Reseda Boulevard near Prairie Street.
The airbags in Chang's car went off and he was unresponsive, so Ramirez requested paramedics.
As an investigation was underway, Chang ran to Ramirez's patrol car, got inside and attempted to drive off, sheriff's officials said. But Ramirez had removed the keys from the ignition.
Chang told deputies he "intentionally rammed the patrol vehicle, so the police would shoot and kill him," according to a Sheriff's Department statement.
He was taken into custody on suspicion of assault with a deadly weapon on a police officer. He remains in sheriff's custody in lieu of $50,000 bail.
The incident comes the day after a Bay Area man left officers no choice but to shoot him in a suicide-by-cop incident.
The man left a suicide note is which he forgave police to killing him.
"Officer(s), you did nothing wrong," the 32-year-old man's note read.
"I threatened your life as well as the lives of those around me," he wrote. "You were completely within your legal rights to do what you did."
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