Man charged with stealing deputy's gun, shooting at her with it

Feds charge suspect with shooting deputy

Federal prosecutors are charging a suspect for shooting a deputy with the cop's gun in Victorville back in 2019.

VICTORVILLE, Calif. - Federal charges were filed against a Victorville man for allegedly stealing a San Bernardino County Deputy's service weapon from her and shooting at her with it, the Justice Department announced Wednesday.

Ari Aki Young has been charged with three felonies for the incident.

The shooting happened in Victorville on Sept. 4, 2019. According to an affidavit filed this week, Young's mom called 911 that morning, asking deputies to come remove her son from the home. A deputy responded to the house alone.

When she got there, she found Young, and tried to pat him down for weapons. Young resisted, the affidavit said, and threatened to headbutt her before knocking her baton away and hitting her repeatedly in the face.

As she was being beaten, court records say, the deputy took out her gun and told Young she would shoot him. Instead, Young knocked her to the ground and wrestled the gun away from her, as two shots were fired. Then, documents say Young pointed the gun at the deputy while she got up and ran, and he shot at her once.

By that time, other deputies had arrived at the scene. Young is then accused of keeping the gun and shooting into the air before deputies shot him. Young was given medical attention at the scene.

The deputy medically retired after the incident.

"In responding to a domestic disturbance call and trying to protect [the] defendant’s mother, the victim was met by a defendant who allegedly beat her, robbed her of her service weapon, and shot at her as she ran for her life," United States Attorney Martin Estrada said in a statement. "[The] defendant’s violent assault on a peace officer is completely unacceptable. Our law enforcement officers put their lives on the line for us every day and deserve to be protected from violent attacks such as this one."

Young is expected to make his first court appearance Wednesday. If convicted, Young could face up to 30 years in prison.