| For Immediate Release Case # 11WF2600 October 5, 2012 |
Susan Kang Schroeder Chief of Staff Office: 714-347-8408 Cell: 714-292-2718 Farrah Emami
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MAN SENTENCED TO SIX YEARS IN PRISON FOR ASSAULTING OFFICER BY DRAGGING HIM SEVERAL FEET WITH CAR WHILE FLEEING TRAFFIC STOP
SANTA ANA – A man was sentenced to six years in state prison yesterday for assaulting a police officer with his car by dragging the officer several feet in an effort to flee a traffic stop. Marcos Gonzalez, 28, Fullerton, pleaded guilty to the court yesterday, Oct. 4, 2012, to one felony count of assault of a police officer with sentencing enhancements for causing great bodily injury and having a prior conviction for possession for sale of a controlled substance in 2007.
At approximately 9:30 a.m. on Nov. 2, 2011, Gonzalez was pulled over by Garden Grove Police Officer Starnes for a routine traffic stop. Officer Starnes approached the defendant’s window and noticed an odor of marijuana from Gonzalez’s vehicle during the contact. At the request of the officer, Gonzalez got out of his vehicle.
While Officer Starnes called for back-up, Gonzalez rushed back into the driver’s seat of his car. Officer Starnes attempted to stop Gonzalez by preventing him from getting into the vehicle, but was knocked down after being hit by the driver’s side door.
Knowing that Officer Starnes was hanging outside the vehicle, Gonzalez attempted to drive away and flee from the scene, dragging Officer Starnes several feet before the officer fell to the ground. Gonzalez then fled the scene.
Officer Starnes was taken to the hospital and treated for significant back injuries.
The defendant was arrested three days later, on Nov. 5, 2011, by Garden Grove Police Department officers.
Senior Deputy District Attorney Rebecca Olivieri of the Special Prosecutions Unit prosecuted this case.
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