Case # 15WF0871
Date: September 23, 2015
MAN SENTENCED TO THREE YEARS IN PRISON FOR SPEEDING IN STOLEN VEHICLE AND NEARLY HITTING OFFICERS ON FOOT
WESTMINSTER, Calif. – A man was sentenced today to three years in state prison for speeding in a stolen vehicle and nearly hitting officers on foot in order to get away. Adrian Coates, 18, Huntington Beach, pleaded guilty to a court offer July 21, 2015, to one felony count of unlawful taking of a vehicle, one felony count of aggravated assault on a peace officer and one felony count of evading while driving recklessly.
At approximately 2:50 a.m. on April 26, 2015, Coates was driving a stolen Honda Accord in Huntington Beach. A Huntington Beach Police Department (HBPD) officer attempted to pull the defendant over for a vehicle code violation. Coates failed to stop for the HBPD officer and sped away where he drove into a cul-de-sac in a residential area. As HBPD officers got out of their patrol vehicles in an attempt to block in the defendant, Coates drove toward the officers, nearly hitting them, and drove away from the scene. An HBPD officer shot several times at Coates’ vehicle. None of the shots struck the defendant.
A short time later, the Orange County Sheriff’s Department, who investigated this case, located the stolen vehicle in Huntington Beach and arrested Coates.
Senior Deputy District Attorney Brett Brian of the Special Prosecutions Unit prosecuted this case.