Man shot by LAPD near USC charged with assaulting the officers

A man shot and critically wounded by Los Angeles police near USC this week was charged with assaulting the officers during a struggle in which he is accused of cutting them with a knife, prosecutors said Thursday.

Oscar Ovidio Diaz, 30, was charged with two counts of assaulting a peace officer and an additional count of stealing a vehicle, the Los Angeles County district attorney’s office said. If convicted, Diaz faces more than 12 years in state prison.

Diaz, who was hospitalized for his injuries, will be arraigned at a later date, prosecutors said, noting that he has prior convictions for burglary and driving or taking a vehicle without consent.

The incident began Tuesday afternoon, when two police officers stopped Diaz as he drove on Magnolia Avenue near 27th Street, just a few blocks away from the USC campus.

Prosecutors allege that Diaz was driving a vehicle that had been reported stolen and did not comply with the officers’ orders after they stopped him.

Diaz, who police say was armed with a knife, “cut both officers as they tried to subdue him,� prosecutors said in a news release. One of the officers then shot and wounded Diaz.

Both officers were scraped and bruised in the altercation, police said. One officer had a laceration.

The LAPD’s investigation of the shooting is ongoing. The incident also will be reviewed by the Los Angeles County district attorney’s office, the Police Commission and its inspector general, which is customary in all LAPD shootings.

The officers were not wearing body cameras but their patrol car had dash cameras, LAPD Det. Meghan Aguilar said. That footage will be reviewed as part of the investigation.

Diaz was the 33rd person shot by LAPD officers this year. Of those, 18 have died.

Follow @KateMather for more LAPD news.

Times staff writer Matt Hamilton contributed to this report.