2 GANG SUSPECTS ARRESTED FLEEING MAN POINTS GUN AT DEPUTY, OTHER DROPS SHOTGUN.

Byline: Greg Botonis Staff Writer

SUN VILLAGE - Two reputed gang members were arrested after one was seen dropping a sawed-off shotgun and a deputy said the second pointed a gun at him while running away, officials said.

Manuel Topete, 22, of Littlerock is suspected of pointing a gun at a deputy while running into the desert after he, the second man and two companions were stopped on 90th Street East, deputies said. Topete was later arrested after a standoff at a house in the 9200 block of East Avenue Q-14.

``Our Special Enforcement Bureau was called in to help bring him out and he gave himself up without further incident,'' said Deputy Dave Miklos of the Palmdale sheriff's station.

Topete was arrested on suspicion of assault with a deadly weapon on a peace officer, though he didn't fire the gun that a deputy said he saw him pointing. The deputy fired three shots, but did not hit the suspect, officials said.

Carlos Perez, 19, of Littlerock was arrested on suspicion of possession of a firearm by a parolee. Deputies said they saw him pull from his waistband and drop on the ground an object that turned out to be a sawed- off shotgun. He had 17 shotgun shells in his pockets, deputies said.

Topete, Perez and two companions were stopped about 8 p.m. Wednesday by deputies who saw them running from a gas station on 90th Street East south of Palmdale Boulevard, officials said.

Investigators said the men had purchased a 12-pack of beer at the gas station and are unsure as to why they were running.

When they saw the running men, the deputies turned on their patrol car's emergency lights, shined a spotlight on them and ordered them through a loudspeaker to stop. The men halted after the deputies pulled up next to them and jumped out of the patrol car, deputies said.

The deputies said they saw one of the men, later identified as Perez, turn his back, pull a large object from his waistband and drop it to the ground. While one deputy held the kneeling men at gunpoint and the other began searching them, one man jumped up and ran into the desert, officials said.

One deputy chased after the fleeing man. The deputy, who was not identified, said he saw the man stop, turn and point a gun at him, Miklos said. The deputy fired three shots at the man, but halted his chase and returned to his partner and the other three suspects.

Deputies questioned the other three and were told that their companion might have gone to a home in the 9200 block of East Avenue Q-14, officials said.

Special-weapons deputies were sent out to the home and Topete eventually surrendered about 11 p.m.

The other two men were let go, officials said.

Topete and Perez were transported to the Lancaster sheriff's station jail. Topete was being held in lieu of $100,000 bail and Perez is being held without bail on a parole hold.

Greg Botonis, [phone]

gregory.botonis(at)dailynews.com