Holdup Suspect, Shot by Police, in Serious Condition : Crime: Michael Warren Vines was fighting drug addiction and severe depression over pending felony case, his sister says.

HUNTINGTON BEACH â€”  Michael Warren Vines, shot by police Sunday when he allegedly charged officers with a pair of scissors, was upgraded from critical to serious condition Monday as his family described his struggles with despondency and drug addiction.

Vines, 41, was facing 25 years to life in prison in a pending felony case under the state’s “three-strikes� law. His sister, 35, from Huntington Beach, said Monday he had been fighting severe depression over the possible life sentence and was wrestling with a heroin habit.

According to the sister, who asked not to be named, family members have tried to get him help several times for his drug addiction, but have not been able to afford the costs of treatment programs.

“If he makes it through all this, we just want him to get help,� she said. “That’s what we’ve been trying to do for a long time. We’ve tried all we can. He needs professional help and we can’t seem to get it for him.�

Police went to the home of Bertha Bewsee in the 19000 block of Trident Lane about 12:25 a.m. Sunday looking for Vines in connection with a bungled Saturday afternoon robbery at a Sav-On Drugs store, authorities said. Vines, a mason, had been helping Bewsee, 68, fix up her house for sale.

According to police, Vines “ran from the officers and then attacked them armed with a pair of scissors.�

Bewsee said Vines was in the bedroom when officers entered her home and handcuffed her and her son on the living room floor. She then heard a succession of gunshots.

“I didn’t hear anything but a whole pile of shots and then moans,� Bewsee said.

The Orange County Sheriff’s Department is conducting a routine investigation of both the alleged robbery at the Sav-On and the officer involved in the shooting, Huntington Beach police said.

Vines has undergone several surgeries at UCI Medical Center in Orange for bullet wounds to his stomach, hand, shoulder, elbow, ankle and leg, his sister said.

Vines, whose criminal record goes back to the 1970s, has been awaiting trial on robbery and carjacking charges, according to court records.

The pending charges stem from a Westminster robbery in October, 1994, when he allegedly held up a liquor store and hijacked a car after he crashed his truck trying to flee. Trial in Orange County Superior Court is set for January. He was free on $100,000 bond.

He could face at least 25 years in prison under the three-strikes law because of prior convictions. He pleaded guilty in 1986 to a string of eight robberies that targeted liquor stores, groceries and a hair salon, according to court records.

Vines also received a six-month jail sentence in 1976 after pleading guilty to assault with a deadly weapon, and he has been cited for drunk driving at least three times since 1979, records show.