By Henry K. Lee
The San Francisco Chronicle
SAN FRANCISCO — The attorney for an alleged gang member accused of trying to kill a Fremont police officer opened her cross-examination of the officer Thursday with a question: “How are you feeling?”
Officer Todd Young, 40, who doctors say nearly died after being shot last year in East Oakland, glared at Barbara Thomas, the attorney for Andrew Barrientos, 21.
“You want me to answer that?” Young asked. “Is that ‘hello’? Or is it, ‘How are you feeling?’ ”
Thomas then asked Young if he was on any medication.
Young said yes, listing the painkiller methadone, a second painkiller used to treat nerve pain and a third drug, Nexium, which decreases stomach acid.
The tense exchange in Alameda County Superior Court in Oakland came as Thomas began questioning Young, who was shot when he tried to arrest Barrientos on Aug. 27, 2010, near the corner of Auseon Avenue and Olive Street. Barrientos is charged with attempted murder.
Young told jurors Wednesday that he had been running after Barrientos when the defendant suddenly swung a 9mm semiautomatic handgun at him from 15 feet away and fired 10 shots. Two of them hit him in the pelvis, and he underwent numerous operations at Highland Hospital in Oakland. He is still recuperating and undergoing physical therapy.
The defense says Barrientos didn’t recognize that Young, who was in plainclothes that day, was a police officer.
Under cross-examination, Young said he has taken many prescribed drugs and that he can’t pronounce the names of many of them or recall specifics about dosages. The officer, who wore his uniform on the stand, said he takes what his doctors prescribe.
Young said one of the drugs caused him to lose some of his memory, but he told Thomas that he did not have any problems testifying or recalling the day he was shot.
Barrientos, a Union City resident, fled after the shooting but was caught near the U.S.-Mexican border, authorities said. Young and his partner were trying to arrest him for allegedly threatening his girlfriend and fleeing from police.
Fremont Police Officer Todd Young was shot last year.
Andrew Barrientos is charged with attempted murder of Young.
Copyright 2011 San Francisco Chronicle