A burglar fired a shot at a Mesa fire inspector who was trying to get his license plate Friday. The inspector, who was not injured, was driving in the area of Brown and Gilbert roads at 4:30 a.m. when he spotted a man coming out of a real estate office carrying what appeared to be a television set, said Jerry Gissel, a Mesa police spokesman.
The inspector drove into the parking lot to get the license number of a silver "newer model four-door Dodge Neon," but the car drove past him heading south on Gilbert Road.
The inspector followed the car for a block where it turned left onto Fountain Street. The burglar, who had made a U-turn into the front yard of a house, shot at the inspector when he came around the corner.
Gissel said the inspector's truck was struck once in the driver's side door.
The Neon fled south on Gilbert Road as the inspector followed, but he lost him in the area of Concho Street and Lindsay Road.
