CHP Slaying Suspect Wishes He Could Change His Life

SANTA ANA â€”  For Hung Thanh Mai, the Anaheim man accused of killing a CHP officer during a traffic stop, the 10 days since his arrest have been the “worst of my life.â€�

Mai declined Friday to talk about charges that he killed Officer Don Burt, who was shot seven times. But the 25-year-old suspect emphatically denied allegations that he is tied to a roving gang based in Long Beach.

“I was never in a gang,� said Mai, who immigrated to Orange County from Vietnam in 1975 with his paternal grandmother. “I have no idea where they got that from.�

In an interview at Orange County Jail, the soft-spoken Mai made his first public comments since a nationwide manhunt ended last week with his arrest in Houston.

Mai said he wishes he could “change my life,� but “that’s too late now.�

“There’s not much about myself to talk about,� he said, adding: “I’ll talk after the trial.�

Mai was arrested July 17 by FBI agents and Fullerton and Houston police officers, who found him asleep in a Houston apartment. Law enforcement officials said evidence against him includes a fingerprint found in the BMW that Burt, a 25-year-old rookie, pulled over and other undisclosed physical evidence that directed officers to Texas.

In the trunk of the car, investigators said, they discovered phony traveler’s checks. Police have said the BMW was not registered to Mai.

Friday, Mai declined to say what led him to Houston, but he contended he has been verbally threatened by jail deputies since voluntarily returning to Orange County last week. “But that’s understandable,� he said.

Reached Friday afternoon, Sheriff’s Lt. Tom Garner said he “will check into� Mai’s allegation. “But that’s not an uncommon thing that they [inmates] purport,� Garner said.

At the county jail, Mai said he has occupied his days reading Stephen King’s “Salem’s Lot,� and believing in his Buddhist faith.

He said he has no family in Orange County other than a grandmother who lives in a rest home and an aunt with whom he hasn’t stayed in touch.

He graduated from Saddleback High School in Santa Ana and worked as a furniture salesman in Long Beach before the store’s closing last year. Since then, he said, he “didn’t do much,� and had considered attending college to study psychology.

Before the officer’s shooting, Mai was being sought on assault charges and previously was convicted of assault, illegal weapons possession, robbery and forgery.

On Friday, Mai’s hands and feet were in shackles as he was escorted by two deputies into the jail’s visiting section. Garner said the unusual precaution was taken because Mai posed a potential escape risk.

While the suspect was jailed in Houston, investigators said someone called the jail, posing as a high-ranking police official and ordering Mai’s release. He was briefly moved to the facility’s release area, but was quickly returned to his cell, authorities said.

Mai said Friday that he had no idea who might have called the jail.

The suspect is set to be arraigned Aug. 9 on the murder charge in Municipal Court in Fullerton.

Orange County Superior Court Judge James L. Smith signed a court order Friday allowing investigators to gather hair, blood and fingerprint samples from Mai. The judge rejected an objection from Deputy Public Defender Hector Chaparro, and approved the samples without comment.

Also contributing to this report was Times staff writer Anna Cekola.