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Man Gets 25 Years In Prison For Shooting at LAPD Chopper
Photo by A.C. Thamer via the LAist Featured Photos pool
A 20-year-old man has been sentenced to 25 years in prison for firing a gun at a Los Angeles Police Department helicopter while it was in flight. Danny Anthony Lopez was 18 years old at the time of the April 2011 crime.
Lopez pleaded no contest in August to two counts of assault on a peace officer with a semiautomatic firearm, said Deputy District Attorney Michael Blake with the Crimes Against Peace Officers unit, according to a release issued by the L.A. County DA's office. In exchange for his plea, some charges against Lopez were dropped.
Lopez admitted he opened fire on the chopper while standing near Saticoy Street and Densmore Avenue in Van Nuys shortly after 6 a.m. in an attempt to force it to make an emergency landing. The helicopter landed at Van Nuys airport and was leaking fuel. Lopez was arrested about an hour after the incident. No one was injured in the shooting.
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