NORTH HOLLYWOOD : Man Convicted of Attempted Murder, Assault

A city parking enforcement officer faces life in prison after a jury convicted him Monday of attempted murder and three counts of assault with a deadly weapon for storming a North Hollywood apartment where he shot two people.

Troyal (Troy) Lee Sims, 25, was also acquitted of kidnaping and raping his girlfriend in the hours after the Aug. 30 shooting.

Sims testified that he was trying to find his girlfriend and rescue her from a gang of forgers she had fallen in with.

While admitting that Sims’ girlfriend had joined a group of people involved in a criminal enterprise, Deputy Dist. Atty. Linda Acaldo stressed that the law does not condone vigilantism, and that every person deserves protection in his or her home.

Sims went to an apartment in the 11000 block of Hesby Street and fired a gun at a man outside whom he believed to be a member of the gang. He then kicked in a door, shot another man inside an apartment and fired 10 more shots through a bathroom door. He then shot a woman in the apartment who had been hiding in a bedroom.

Acaldo also called Sims’ girlfriend to testify, who said she lied when she told police she was raped. Later, she said she was telling the truth.

“Her credibility was shot to hell from the very beginning,” said juror Jan Oler.

Sims was found not guilty on counts of kidnaping for sexual purposes, kidnaping, forcible rape and making terrorist threats.

Sims is scheduled to be sentenced on June. 14. Defense attorney John E. Sweeney said he will ask the court for leniency because this is his client’s only criminal conviction.