Man Charged in Shooting of Teens in Car

A Rancho Palos Verdes man who allegedly fired his gun into a carload of teen-agers on a scavenger hunt, injuring a 16-year-old boy, has been charged with assault with a deadly weapon and shooting into an inhabited vehicle.

Carl Faulkner, 43, faces up to 13 years in prison, if he is convicted of the two felony charges filed Tuesday in South Bay Municipal Court.

The incident occurred shortly after 10 p.m. May 28 when three Rolling Hills High School students drove to the home of varsity baseball coach Garry Poe to take Poe’s license plate, a sheriff’s investigator said.

Poe said he aborted the prank when his daughter told him that someone was outside their house on Rockinghorse Road in Rancho Palos Verdes.

One Youth Wounded

The youths, whose names were not released, sped off but drove into a dead end and had to turn around and drive back past Poe’s home, according to the Sheriff’s Department. Poe’s neighbor, Faulkner, whose home had been burglarized recently, fired a shot at the car as it drove off, deputies said.

The shot struck one of the youths in the arm, leaving a minor flesh wound.

At the time of the incident, sheriff’s deputies said the three 16-year-old students might be charged with trespassing, but the district attorney’s office has declined to prosecute. The youths were not trespassing because Poe’s car was parked in the street and their tampering with the license plate was so minor that it does not warrant filing criminal charges, said Deputy Dist. Atty. Martin Oghigian.

Faulkner, a contractor, could not be reached for comment.