IRVINE, CA – A wheelchair-bound man lost his life when a car driven by his alleged former caregiver smashed into his Irvine home early Monday morning. The sequence of events began at approximately 2:15 a.m. as police were alerted to a vehicle crashing into a residence in the Woodbridge neighborhood at the junction of Whistling Swan and Wetstone.
The call to the police had come from someone inside the affected property. On arrival at the scene, police found a male individual dead. They also detected a gas leak on the premises, which was subsequently resolved, according to Irvine Police Department spokesperson Kyle Oldoerp.
While police were still processing the scene of the crash, they made contact with a potential suspect on foot close to West Yale Loop and Stone Creek South around 3:15 a.m. This encounter resulted in an officer-involved shooting, with Oldoerp, confirming that a knife was found at the scene. Information regarding how the suspect was located or the circumstances that led to the police officers opening fire has not yet been confirmed.
The suspect, whose identity has not yet been released, was taken to hospital in a critical condition following the shooting.
Investigating officers have not made public any details pertaining to the potential relationship between the victim and the suspect. However, family members of the deceased have identified the victim as Johnny Bash, a man paralyzed from the waist down as a result of an accident years before. They allege the vehicle was rammed into the home by Bash’s former caregiver.
Lindsey Myers, the brother-in-law of the deceased, described Bash as a “helpless victim.” The family mourns a man who had “no chance to defend himself”, he added.