| For Immediate Release Case # 09HF1242
February 8, 2011 |
Susan Kang Schroeder Chief of Staff Office: 714-347-8408 Cell: 714-292-2718 Farrah Emami |
FATHER SENTENCED TO FOUR YEARS IN PRISON FOR KIDNAPPING DAUGHTER AND ASSAULTING
EX-GIRLFRIEND AND HER MALE FRIEND
SANTA ANA – A father was sentenced yesterday to four years and four months in state prison for kidnapping his 3-year-old daughter and assaulting his ex-girlfriend and her male friend with a firearm after becoming angry during a custody drop-off. Daniel Chomina, 29, Garden Grove, pleaded guilty Feb. 7, 2011, to the court to one felony count of kidnapping, one felony count of first degree residential burglary, two misdemeanor counts of assault with a firearm, and one misdemeanor count of possession of a firearm by a felon for a 2005 conviction for the sale and transportation of a controlled substance.
In July 2009, Chomina and his ex-girlfriend, 23-year-old Jane Doe, shared custody of their 3-year-old daughter. At approximately 9:30 a.m. on July 13, 2009, Chomina arrived at Jane Doe’s Lake Forest home to drop off the little girl. While inside the residence, Chomina became angry after finding that Jane Doe had a 28-year-old male friend, John Doe, in the master bedroom. He pointed a firearm at John Doe and then hit him in the head with the barrel of the firearm in the presence of Jane Doe. The daughter was not in the bedroom at this time.
Chomina ran from the apartment and the victims locked themselves inside with the little girl to call 911. While the victims were calling for help, Chomina returned to the home and pounded on the door. He then broke into the house through a kitchen window screen and grabbed his daughter. Chomina took the little girl and fled the scene in his truck.
While deputies from the Orange County Sheriff’s Department (OCSD) were at Jane Doe’s home taking statements from the victims, Chomina called Jane Doe and agreed to drop their daughter off with his mother at Daniel’s Burgers in Anaheim. The defendant left the little girl as he had indicated and again fled the scene.
A warrant was issued and he was arrested July 14, 2009, at a home in Orange by OCSD and the Orange Police Department.
Deputy District Attorney Heidi Garrel of the Family Protection Unit prosecuted this case.
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