A Los Angeles County sheriff’s deputy was due to be arraigned Tuesday on a voluntary manslaughter charge stemming from the fatal on-duty shooting of a man at a Norwalk gas station, marking the first prosecution of its type in the county in nearly two decades.
Deputy Luke Liu, 40, faces up to 21 years in prison if convicted of the voluntary manslaughter charge, which includes a special allegation of personal use of a handgun. The charge stems from the Feb. 24, 2016, shooting of 26-year-old Francisco Garcia at a gas station in the 10900 block of Alondra Boulevard.
Los Angeles County District Attorney Jackie Lacey, who has come under fire from some Southland civil-rights leaders for failing to prosecutor police officers and sheriff’s deputies involved in on-duty shootings, issued a statement saying Liu’s use of force “was unjustified and unreasonable under the circumstances.”
According to prosecutors, Liu was on patrol when he spotted a potentially stolen vehicle at the gas station and pulled up behind it. Liu walked to the driver’s side door, then walked to the rear of the car, and when he returned to the driver’s side door, Garcia began to drive away at about 5 mph, prosecutors said.
Liu allegedly ran alongside the car and fired seven shots. Garcia was hit by four of the rounds and died at a hospital.
Sheriff’s officials at the time said the deputy was in fear for his life when the suspect turned on the car and appeared to reach for something behind the car’s passenger seat. They said the deputy was struck by the vehicle, suffering minor injuries, and said the deputy performed CPR on the suspect before paramedics arrived.
No weapons were found in the vehicle, sheriff’s officials said.
According to the District Attorney’s Office, the shooting occurred within 20 seconds of Liu first approaching Garcia. The shooting was also seen by several witnesses and was partly captured on surveillance video.
“There is an inherent danger for law enforcement officers every time they put on the uniform,” Lacey said. “We applaud their dedication and bravery to make split-second decisions in potentially life-threatening situations. But we also must hold them accountable when their conduct is unlawful.”
According to the Los Angeles Times, the last Los Angeles County law enforcement officer to be prosecuted for an on-duty shooting was LAPD Officer Ronald Orosco. He was accused of shooting an unarmed motorist in the back during a September 2000 dispute over a traffic citation. The motorist survived. Orosco pleaded no contest to a felony count of shooting into an occupied vehicle and was sentenced to five years in prison, The Times reported.
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