LOS ANGELES : Lawyer Says Officer Didn’t Mean to Shoot at Patrolman

An off-duty police officer fired his pistol in frustration after finding out he wouldn’t get a raise and then had a few drinks, but he didn’t mean to shoot at a highway patrol officer, his attorney said Monday.

Officer Ted Teyechea “did the most painfully stupid thing he had ever done in his life” when he leaned out of a pickup truck window and fired his 9-millimeter automatic service pistol at the ground, attorney Barry Levin said.

Teyechea and Officer Michael Herrera, both police officers for nine years, are charged with assault with a deadly weapon, shooting at an occupied vehicle and the negligent discharge of a firearm. They are accused of shooting at California Highway Patrol motorcycle Officer Scott Wall during a car chase on the Harbor Freeway on Feb. 9. Wall was not hit by any of the 21 shots the officers allegedly fired.

Levin, in an opening statement to the jury, said Teyechea was just blowing off steam when he emptied his pistol in the incident. Herrera’s attorney also said his client admitted firing his gun but did not shoot at Wall.