Man allegedly shot at deputy with her own gun as she pleaded for her life

By Marissa Wenzke

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    California (KCAL/KCBS) — A San Bernardino County man is facing federal charges for allegedly stealing a deputy’s firearm and using it to shoot at her as she pleaded for her life, prosecutors announced Wednesday.

Ari Aki Young, 26, is facing felony charges in connection with the Sept. 4, 2019 incident, when his mother called 911 to report a domestic disturbance and asked deputies to remove him from her home in Victorville, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Central District of California.

A female deputy responded to the call by herself and Young allegedly attacked her after she tried patting him down for weapons.

During a Wednesday news conference, U.S. Attorney for the Central District of California Martin Estrada told reporters Young allegedly punched the deputy in the face, knocked her to the ground, stole her gun and then opened fire. Prosecutors have alleged he also knocked away the deputy’s baton before pummeling her in the face and head with his fists. She pleaded for her life, prosecutors said.

“Mr. Young did not like being confronted by this deputy, who was a woman, so he brutally attacked her,” Estrada said. “When she got up, he pointed the gun at her. And as she ran away, fleeing for her life, he shot in her direction.”

The entire encounter was captured on video taken by a neighbor — footage Estrada described as “shocking and chilling.”

When other deputies arrived, prosecutors allege Young re-racked the gun, walked towards them and fired another round into the air. At that point, the deputies returned fire and Young was shot and wounded, prosecutors said. He was given medical treatment.

Young has been arrested and was expected to appear in a U.S. District Court in Riverside on Wednesday.

He faces federal charges including one count of interference with commerce by robbery (Hobbs Act), one count of using and discharging a firearm in relation to a crime of violence and one count of possession of a stolen firearm and stolen ammunition.

“This vicious attack on a law enforcement deputy while she was attempting to help a victim was inhumane,” Christopher Bombardiere, special agent in charge of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives’ (ATF) Los Angeles Field Division, said in a statement from federal prosecutors. “These violent individuals will be held accountable for their merciless attacks.”

If convicted, Young would face a mandatory minimum sentence of 10 years in federal prison and a statutory maximum possible sentence of 20 years for just the charge related to the Hobbs Act. The other two charges each potentially carry 10 years each.

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