L.A. Deputy Faces Felony Gun Charge : Law enforcement: Investigators find sawed-off shotgun at his home during probe of off-duty officers’ shooting spree. Another is relieved of duty.

A Los Angeles County sheriff’s deputy is facing criminal charges and another has been relieved of duty after an investigation into a shooting spree in which off-duty officers fired their weapons into the air last month.

No one was hurt in the March 27 incident outside a Maywood restaurant, which began as a fund-raising party for several former sheriff’s deputies who were dismissed for allegedly violating the Sheriff’s Department shooting policy.

The shooting incident spawned a criminal investigation that resulted Thursday in the filing of a felony criminal complaint against Deputy William Harvey Lynch, 25, for allegedly possessing an illegal weapon, officials said.

“Pursuant to a search warrant, a sawed-off shotgun was found in his residence,” said Deputy Dist. Atty. Al Botello.

According to authorities, the sawed-off shotgun was found in the oven of Lynch’s Torrance apartment. Although there is no indication that the shotgun was used in the shooting, possessing such a weapon is illegal. Under the district attorney’s policy, a criminal charge for possessing a sawed-off shotgun is filed as a felony and carries a maximum term of three years in prison, officials said.

Lynch, a 3 1/2-year veteran assigned to the Carson station, could not be reached for comment. He is scheduled to be arraigned May 7, officials said.

Sheriff’s officials would not disclose the details of their inquiry, but acknowledged that Lynch and another unnamed deputy have been suspended as the result of its findings. The investigation is continuing.

Those actions come nearly a month after officers from the Maywood and Vernon police departments responded to late-night calls of numerous gunshots in a largely industrial neighborhood that divides the two cities.

Scores of deputies had been attending a party at the Copacabana restaurant to raise money for several deputies fired recently by the Sheriff’s Department for allegedly using excessive force or violating the department’s shooting policy.

But after an evening that some deputies said was marked by heavy drinking and altercations, officers began firing their weapons into the air. When investigators arrived, they picked up 29 shell casings from a parking lot across the street from the restaurant and questioned witnesses and deputies who were at the gathering.

According to sources close to the investigation, deputies suspected of attending the party were ordered to turn over their department-issued 9-millimeter Barettas for ballistic tests, and search warrants were obtained to inspect deputy homes and personal lockers at station houses.

Richard Shinee, the attorney for a number of deputies under investigation, refused to comment on whether any of his clients have been suspended as a result of the inquiry. But he challenged the department’s order requiring deputies to hand in their service weapons.

“It was done without court process, and we believe that the matter in which the department seized the weapons violated the deputies’ constitutional rights,” he said. “We are looking into possible civil action and it could also be raised by the deputies’ criminal attorney, should charges be filed.”