A Los Angeles felon accused of ripping an officer’s gun from his holster during a struggle in a Brea parking lot was sentenced Thursday to two years in prison as part of a court offer a judge extended over the objections of police and prosecutors.
A week after a standing-room-only crowd of dozens of uniformed police officers watched Orange County Superior Court Judge Gassia Apkarian withdraw a court offer that would have resulted in Gilbert Antonio Villalba serving what law enforcement officials argued was a too-lenient 16 months behind bars, the judge presented him with a new offer carrying the slightly longer sentence.
Villalba, 32, accepted the new court offer, avoiding the potential more than six-year prison sentence he would have faced had the case gone to trial. DA officials say he was also given credit for 74 days for time served while awaiting trial.
As part of the offer, Villalba pleaded guilty to three felony counts, including resisting an officer and battery on a peace officer, court records show.
Villalba’s attorney had urged the judge to move forward with a court offer, noting that Villalba was willing to acknowledge wrongdoing at an early stage of the court process.
The two-year sentence drew immediate criticism from prosecutors.
“Instead of holding a violent felon with an extensive criminal history accountable, today’s slap on the wrist sentence sent a strong message that police lives don’t matter,” DA Todd Spitzer said in a statement “Police officers are our sworn protectors and a willingness to attack a uniformed police officer shows a complete disregard for the rule of law and the safety of our communities.”
On Feb. 2, Brea Police Officer Steven Wulff pulled Villalba over after the officer said he recognized Villalba from a previous arrest and knew he had an outstanding warrant. The officer followed Villalba into a Home Depot parking lot.
Villalba ran into the parking lot, Wulff said, and the officer chased after him, with the two quickly circling back to where Villalba’s vehicle and the officer’s patrol car were parked. Wulff said he grabbed Villalba by his vest to stop him from getting back into his car, and the two men wrestled on the ground as Villalba’s girlfriend stood nearby.
The officer said Villalba repeatedly grabbed for his gun, eventually ripping the officer’s holster from its base plate and leaving it dangling upside down. Villalba called for his girlfriend to grab the gun, the officer said, but she apparently ignored him.
At some point during the struggle, prosecutors say Villalba removed the officer’s taser from its holster, though it doesn’t appear he used it on Wulff. A retired officer saw the struggle and helped detain Villalba, Wulff said.
Wulff told the judge at an earlier hearing that he believed Villalba “intended to take my firearm and use it to kill me,” adding that “my only thought was ‘I need to make it home.’”
“This was not resisting arrest. This was an attack on a uniformed police officer where a wanted felon used so much force he ripped two of the bolts completely off his holster,” Spitzer said. “It is only because of the grace of God, a Good Samaritan, and the officer’s will to survive that he is alive today.
Villalba has a prior strike conviction under California’s three-strike law for second-degree robbery, along with a felony conviction for manufacturing an improvised gun. As part of the court offer, the judge “struck” Villalba’s previous strike conviction and didn’t consider it for purposes of sentencing.
Source: Orange County Register
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