Orange County gang member sentenced in attempted murder of homeowner who saw him spraying graffiti

A Garden Grove gang member was sentenced Friday to 40 years to life in prison for the attempted murder of a father of five, who was left with brain damage and in a wheelchair as a result of a graffiti-related shooting.

Ivan Garcia, 26, was convicted in February of street terrorism and attempted murder for shooting David Puga after the homeowner saw him tagging a block wall on a cul-de-sac.

Garcia was tied to the brutal April 2008 attack by his DNA, which was left on a discarded spray paint can near the crime scene, prosecutors said. As a result of the shooting, part of Pugh’s brain had to be removed and he was left with memory loss and a lack of motor and verbal functions, they said.

Before the sentence was handed down, Puga's wife, Dorothy, told of the impact on her husband.

“All I have to say to you, Ivan, is that you will suffer in jail like my husband has to suffer for the rest of his life,” she said in court, according to prosecutors. “You have not only hurt our family, but by the way I see your mother crying in the courtroom, you have hurt your family as well.”

Puga and his wife were returning home from the grocery store the night of the attack. Puga went out to move a car from the street to the driveway and spotted Garcia and another man tagging a block wall by crossing out a rival gang's graffiti.

Garcia then pulled out a gun and shot the 45-year-old Puga three times in the neck, arm and foot and continued to fire as Puga tried to escape by crawling back into his home, prosecutors said.

After hearing the gunshots and finding her wounded husband, Puga’s wife called 911. Witnesses saw Garcia and another gang member toss the spray-paint can into a Dumpster near a convenience store.

In August 2008, forensic experts matched it to Garcia’s DNA, which was in the state criminal database because he had been convicted that year of being an accessory after the fact in a gang murder.

One of Puga's daughters, who was 16 at the time of the attack and whose name was not released, recalled the attack in court before Garcia was sentenced.

“I will never forget the way my dad was looking at me as he lay on the driveway on his back with blood pouring out his neck,” she stated, according to prosecutors. “I was screaming out loud, 'Dad, please don’t die!'”

-- Richard Winton

Comments

[Richard Ivey]

Why not sentence this thug to Sisyphus work, such as a lifetime of cleaning up graffiti with a chain attached to his ankle? That way Ivan Garcia could work 12 hour days until he drops while saving the taxpayers some big money.

[Tommy Trojan]

Thank God this scum is off the street. Its just unfortunate that he had to ruin another person's life in the process. I ask, why was this dirt bag not put in jail for life when it was known that he was a gang member and was an accessory to a gang murder? Our judicial system is a frickin joke.

[George]

So long puppet, you won't be missed.

[clintorris]

Wait until they get amnesty and they will, you ain't seen nothing yet. Third world here we come.

[My opinon means nothing]

I don't understand how someone can be out on the streets who, just a year earlier had been convicted of being an accessory after the fact OF MURDER!

[Crazy Horse]

Hey Tommy Trojan, pay attention. He did get life. 40 years to life means he has to serve 85% of 40 years before he's eligible to appear before the parole board. Since there is a life designation attached to his sentence, the board is not obligated to let him out. I don't see why you say our system is a joke. That's totally uninformed.

[steve]

The war against taggers can be won, and it's not necessary to directly confront them.

Simply go to this URL and request the graffiti to be removed:
http://anti-graffiti.lacity.org/welcome.cfm

Taggers don't like to waste paint. After making 50 requests for removal in my three block radius, over a period of three months, the tagging has stopped.

Don't confront the taggers. Pretend like you don't see them. They aren't worth the time of day, they don't care about public or personal property, they have no respect for others in society.

The public resources are there please use them.