Los Angeles District Attorney George Gascon’s relationship with the law enforcement professionals in the city and county responsible for keeping order continues to deteriorate, putting area residents further at risk.
The latest incident involves Gascon being forced to walk back an earlier claim that L.A. County Sheriff Alex Villanueva’s office “agreed with the felony charges” and a lenient sentence against a teenager who was convicted of driving a car into a mother and her 8-month-old son.
According to Fox News:
The 17-year-old pleaded guilty to two felony charges of assault by means of force likely to produce great bodily injury and one felony count of hit-and-run, but was sentenced to spend five to seven months in a juvenile probation camp. Prosecutors describe the camp as “less than a military school and a little bit tougher than a summer camp.”
The initial incident happened on Aug. 6, 2021.
An initial statement to Fox News from Gascon’s office claimed that the sheriff’s department agreed with the light sentence.
“Fortunately, the baby was uninjured, and the mother received a laceration to her elbow,” his office said on Friday. “The Sheriff’s Department agreed with the felony charges that were filed. At arraignment, the minor admitted two felony counts of assault by means of force likely to produce great bodily injury and one felony count of hit-and-run. The Probation Department recommended, and the court sentenced the minor to a youth camp for five to seven months, an appropriate resolution.”
The statement noted further that juvenile justice is intended to “rehabilitate young people.”
“In this case, this teen will be held accountable for his actions and receive the needed services to foster positive development to keep him from committing future offenses,” the statement continued.
Leftist Gascon, for the record, is at odds with many of his own prosecutors, as well as LAPD and county officers, for his light sentencing of violent crimes, which critics say is only adding to historic crime spikes because perps feel emboldened.
After Los Angeles Sheriff Alex Villanueva called out Gascon and said, “We were never consulted as we were not the investigating agency,” Gascon’s office corrected the statement on Saturday, stating that the sheriff’s office was not involved.
“The Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department did not agree to charges we did not file,” a spokesperson from the department said.
“Sheriff’s investigators would never be OK with the lightweight sentencing in this hit-and-run case. Stop empowering and encouraging criminal behavior. Hold them accountable #VictimsMatter,” the LASD noted further on Twitter.
“Need to correct our statement from yesterday. LASD was not involved in the decision on the felony charge, as they were not the investigating agency in that case,” a spokesperson for the district attorney’s office said.
The mother who was struck along with her baby was outraged by the light sentence.
“As the car approached me and my child, I stopped walking and moved the stroller and myself up against a building on the right side of the road to ensure that we gave the reckless driver plenty of room to pass,” the mother, who asked to be identified only as Rachel, said in her victim’s impact statement. “As the car got dangerously close to us, [the juvenile suspect] turned the wheels in our direction and accelerated as he aimed to kill us.”
