LAPD officer pleads guilty to assault with firearm [updated]
[UPDATED at 8:30 p.m.:Defendant David Woon Chong is a former LAPD officer. He resigned from the department last month.]
A 39-year-old LAPD officer pleaded guilty today to assault with a firearm stemming from a 2008 incident in a Redondo Beach pier restaurant.
David Woon Chong pulled out a knife and threatened a restaurant patron in March 2008 after getting into a verbal altercation with two men. A witness interceded and the off-duty officer then walked away. But he returned a short time later, kicked some food out of the victim’s hand and pulled out a .45-caliber Glock semiautomatic handgun, pointing it at the man’s head.
The same witness again interceded and walked Chong out of the restaurant. Redondo Beach police, responding to a disturbance call, stopped Chong in his car and arrested him. He allegedly had a .11 blood alcohol level at the time of his arrest.
In exchange for his guilty plea and admitting the gun allegation, two felony counts of making criminal threats and three misdemeanors will be dismissed. Chong was ordered by Judge Stephen Marcus to undergo a 90-day evaluation by the Department of Corrections. Deputy Dist. Atty. Amy Pellman Pentz said Chong faces up to six years in state prison when he returns Aug. 14 for sentencing.
-- Richard Winton
EDITOR'S PICKS:
Another GED educated CA cop-the best and brightest!
Posted by: JoeAverage | May 18, 2009 at 03:08 PM
Poor recruiting and acceptance procedures by the LAPD. They basically have lower standards than the Navy. Maybe if they didn't have maximum I.Q. limits and serious psychological screening they wouldn't be a department full of angry bullies, jocks with a sense of entitlement and low I.Q. thugs with no other place to find decent employment.
Posted by: Sean K | May 18, 2009 at 03:16 PM
ummmm it doesn't say "former LAPD officer."
does that mean he's still on the force? good god.
Posted by: sarah | May 18, 2009 at 04:11 PM
He should be in prison. We all know he probably will not spend a day in jail. The judge has no guts, the officer was not even removed from the force.
thanks for the story
Posted by: doug wallick | May 18, 2009 at 04:22 PM
This article is confusing. Who pull out the knife? Is chong having a fight with the two men? Where does the police officer coming into this? Who is the witness? Why would the police officer pointing a gun? At Chong? Or at the two men? Did Chong fighting with the police officer? Who is the victim? I don't get it.
Posted by: SeanBoy | May 18, 2009 at 05:02 PM
Another bad cop, when will the Blue Gang be brought to justice.
Posted by: tired of it | May 18, 2009 at 06:46 PM
Talk about a bad move, yet another reason Police Officers should be prohibited from carrying a handgun while under any level of alcohol.
Guess he is fired over something stupid, imagine what he did to people on duty!
Posted by: adam dunns | May 18, 2009 at 07:27 PM
How do you know this was the result of lowered standards? Even when standards were high, there were also bad cops. This is probably just a case of a bad apple.
Posted by: kint | May 19, 2009 at 12:28 PM