A California sheriff’s deputy was arrested and charged after the prosecutor’s office said he set up a “shocking ambush”.
Deputy Sukhdeep Gill, from the Santa Clara County sheriff’s office, was taken into custody on Friday and accused of vandalism and misdemeanor of a false report of a crime.
The incident happened last January, when shortly after 10:30 pm, Gill used the emergency broadcast button on his police radio to report that shots were fired, according to a statement from the public prosecutor.
Officers from various sheriff’s departments responded and a hunt for the alleged sniper began.
Gill told a police officer at the scene that he had parked on the side of a dirt road on Morgan Hill to urinate and, when he was getting back in the car, was shot by a person in a vehicle that turned off the lights.
Gill said he fired two shots at the vehicle, but the car was gone.
The prosecution said Gill had no serious injuries.
“It looked like he had been shot only once, and in a miraculous location – his camera next to the body, which was destroyed,” the statement said.
During the investigation of the alleged shooting, “Gill’s story fell apart,” the agency said. Other evidence, including ballistics, also “exposed serious discrepancies in the deputy’s report”.
“This case is disconcerting and deeply disappointing,” prosecutor Jeff Rosen said in a statement. “Mr Gill’s actions have abused the trust of his fellow police officers and diverted public security resources from protecting the community to investigate an invented crime.”
Gill, 27, could not be reached for comment on Saturday. His lawyer, Nicole Pifari, said: “I can say that we are looking forward to seeing the investigation and related evidence to understand why these charges are being processed.”
The deputy has been at the police station since 2016. He has been on administrative leave pending criminal and administrative investigations.
The Santa Clara County Sherrif’s Office said in a press release that if the allegations against Gill are true, his actions “are not representative of the honest men and women in the Sheriff’s Office, who risk their lives every day to serve and protect our community with honesty and integrity. “
