19-Year-Old Pleads Guilty to Shooting CHP Officer

A 19-year-old Thousand Oaks man pleaded guilty Friday to shooting a California Highway Patrol officer in the face when the officer attempted to capture him after a high-speed chase.

Steven Charles Brigida pleaded to two counts of attempted first-degree murder before San Fernando Superior Court Judge John P. Farrell in the Oct. 14 incident.

Under a plea bargain, prosecutors will recommend that Brigida be sentenced to life in prison plus two years, said Deputy Dist. Atty. Kenneth A. Loveman.

One count of grand theft in connection with a stolen motorcycle Brigida was riding will be dismissed, Loveman said.

The incident began about 11:45 p.m. when CHP officers David Zielsch and Thomas N. Tilman noticed Brigida speeding on the southbound Golden State Freeway just north of Templin Highway, police said.

The officers checked the license-plate number of the motorcycle Brigida was riding and found that it had been stolen, police said. They then began following Brigida, who led them on a chase that reached speeds of 100 m.p.h. along Tapia Canyon Road in Castaic, police said.

Brigida swerved off the road and attempted to ride through heavy brush, but hit a log and was thrown off the cycle, police said. He ran for a short distance and then shot Zielsch in the right cheekbone with a .22-caliber gun, before firing another shot at Tilman, police said. Brigida was finally knocked to the ground by Tilman and arrested, police said.

About an hour later, Brigida admitted to another officer who was taking his picture for police files that he had shot Zielsch, Loveman said.

Zielsch had surgery for his wound and has returned to active duty, Loveman said.

Brigida, being held in County Jail without bail, is scheduled to be sentenced July 7.