COP PLEADS GUILTY; DRUNK DRIVING ENDS CAREER.Byline: Jesse Hiestand Staff Writer A Los Angeles police officer pleaded guilty Friday to drunk driving and obstructing an officer after he nearly drove over a CHP CHP Chapter CHP Combined Heat and Power CHP California Highway Patrol CHP Cumhuriyet Halk Partisi (Turkish: Republican People's Party) CHP Chemical Hygiene Plan (OSHA) CHP Community Health Plan officer while trying to avoid traffic. As a convicted felon An individual who commits a crime of a serious nature, such as Burglary or murder. A person who commits a felony. felon n. a person who has been convicted of a felony, which is a crime punishable by death or a term in state or federal prison. , Paul Lopez, 38, can no longer possess firearms, ending his law enforcement career, police said. He is scheduled to be sentenced Feb. 25 and faces up to one year in jail. ``He's definitely remorseful re·morse·ful adj. Marked by or filled with remorse. re·morse  ful·ly adv. , embarrassed, and he basically wants to move forward with his life,'' said defense attorney Bill Seki. Lopez, who was assigned to the 77th Street Station, has been relieved of duty but not fired, said Los Angeles police Lt. Sharyn Buck, a department spokeswoman. Lopez accepted the plea bargain plea bargain n. in criminal procedure, a negotiation between the defendant and his attorney on one side and the prosecutor on the other, in which the defendant agrees to plead "guilty" or "no contest" to some crimes, in return for reduction of the severity of the in exchange for dismissal of other charges, including the more serious assault with a deadly weapon Assault with a Deadly Weapon is the term used to describe the act of threatening to harm one or more people by using a weapon (usually a firearm). Here, assault must be differentiated from battery as they are often confused. Assault is threatening to use force. , which can carry a sentence of up to three years in state prison, Seki said. Los Angeles County Deputy District Attorney Rob Dver could not be reached for comment Friday. California Highway Patrol Officer David Sanov testified at a preliminary hearing in October that on June 6, he stopped traffic on the Ventura Freeway, near the Hollywood Freeway interchange, for a three-car crash. A Volkswagen Jetta drove on the shoulder past all other stopped cars. When the car stopped, Sanov said he intended to cite the driver, but the Jetta suddenly sped toward him. Sanov said the car grazed his leg and gun belt and then sped away. Sanov and his partner chased the car and arrested Lopez. A field sobriety test revealed obvious signs of intoxication intoxication, condition of body tissue affected by a poisonous substance. Poisonous materials, or toxins, are to be found in heavy metals such as lead and mercury, in drugs, in chemicals such as alcohol and carbon tetrachloride, in gases such as carbon monoxide, and , and a breath test showed Lopez's alcohol level at 0.20 percent, according to Sanov's testimony. Lopez pleaded guilty to drunk driving and no contest to one felony charge of obstructing or resisting an executive officer in the performance of his duties. |
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