PHOENIX, Sept. 9 (UPI) -- A man charged with assaulting Arizona police officers last year had weapons purchased illegally as part of a controversial federal program, officials say.
It marks the second violent crime in the United States linked to the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives' Fast and Furious sting, in which ATF agents allowed the illegal purchase of about 2,000 weapons to try to trace them to Mexican drug cartels, the Los Angeles Times reported.
The ATF lost track of most of the weapons in the heavily criticized operation, which began in November 2009, the Times said.
The undercover officers with the Arizona Department of Public Safety were allegedly assaulted in Maricopa, Ariz., in March 2010 when they attempted to stop a stolen Ford truck.
The officers said the driver rammed their cars and threatened them with a Beretta pistol and an AK-47 semiautomatic assault rifle.
Police said the driver pulled the Beretta from his waistband, got out of the truck and crouched as though he were pointing a weapon. After an officer fired several shots the suspect surrendered.
Angel Hernandez-Daz, 48, who is believed to be a Mexican national, was charged with aggravated assault on a police officer, driving the stolen vehicle and illegal possession of the weapons.
A passenger was charged with possession of narcotics.
Last December, U.S. Border Patrol Agent Brian Terry was killed south of Tucson and two firearms from the Fast and Furious program were discovered at the scene.
