Gilbert Officer Rico Aranda is steadily improving from head injuries sustained April 29 in a violent confrontation with a car thief that left a Chandler police officer dead, Gilbert Police said.
Gilbert Police on May 3 said Aranda is responding well to treatment and we expect him to be transferred within a couple days out of ICU and into neurological treatment and recovery.
Gilbert Police last week identified the suspect who triggered the deadly climax to a chase that began in Eloy and ended at the San Tan Motorplex in Gilbert as Jonathan Atland, 25, of Tolleson. He was being treated for non-life-threatening injuries sustained in the confrontation and has been charged with murder, aggravated assault and motor vehicle theft, police said. He has been released from the hospital and is in the County Jail on a $3 million bond.