OREGON CITY, Ore. — A man sought on a murder warrant in the Feb. 6 fatal shooting of an Oregon weighmaster was injured and under police guard Monday in Los Angeles after being wounded by police responding to a reported car burglary, a Clackamas County sheriff’s spokesman said.
Dirck White was listed in critical condition at a Los Angeles hospital, Sgt. Nathan Thompson said.
Weighmaster Grady Waxenfelter was killed while conducting a traffic stop on a commercial truck near Boring, Oregon. A person riding with Waxenfelter witnessed the shooting. A Clackamas County murder arrest warrant was issued for White and a $25,000 reward was offered for information leading to his arrest.
Los Angeles police said that Hollywood-area officers responding to a report of a vehicle burglary Sunday morning chased a man who eventually fired at them. Police returned fire and wounded the man.
Thompson said a Clackamas County sheriff’s detective went to Los Angeles to work with city police investigators.
At the time of the February shooting, White was sought on a Pierce County, Washington, weapons charge warrant.
Clackamas County agreed to pay $700,000 to settle a wrongful death claim filed by Waxenfelter’s wife. The victim also left behind three children.
Waxenfelter, 47, of Estacada, was shot in the head after he stopped a pickup that was hauling a load of firewood.
Sheriff’s deputies tracked the pickup to a trucking company office and determined the driver had fled in a car.
Authorities think that the man who shot the weighmaster may have believed Waxenfelter was a police officer. Instead, Waxenfelter, who was unarmed, actually intended to inform the pickup driver that he needed a license plate on his trailer.
The Occupational Safety and Health Administration fined Clackamas County $2,100, saying the employee was at risk because his work vehicle looked too much like a police car.
