Local News in Brief : Businessman Pleads Guilty to Assault
An Inglewood businessman who sat on a city commission and the mayor’s anti-crime task force has pleaded guilty to assault with a deadly weapon for firing a shot last spring at an Inglewood policeman.
Francisco Avina, 40, will return to Torrance Superior Court on Feb. 21 for sentencing.
Before the guilty plea, Judge Hiroshi Fujisaki dismissed an attempted-murder charge stemming from the same incident, saying there was not enough evidence to try Avina on that charge.
Inglewood police said the assault occurred last April when they went to a coin laundry owned by Avina after a report of a disturbance.
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