Man Is Guilty of Shooting Officer

A Santa Ana gang member was convicted Friday of attempted murder in the shooting of an Anaheim police officer, a verdict that was greeted by a hushed courtroom packed with police and well-wishers.

Officer Thomas “Kasey” Geary, who has returned to patrol duties since last year’s shooting, at first struggled to choke back tears as the verdict was read. Then he lifted his head, smiled at the prosecutor and winked.

In contrast, Juan Carlos Alcaraz, 26, stood silently as he was found guilty of all four counts stemming from the shooting. He faces a maximum of two life sentences in prison.

The verdict followed only five hours of deliberations and came despite Alcaraz’s pleas earlier this week that he intended to scare, not hurt, the officer.

“I have no words to describe how happy I am,” Geary said after the hearing. “It’s the end of a long road. . . . Even though I’m not trying to be vindictive, I trust the system I work for, and it came through for me.”

Alcaraz was charged with shooting Geary in the face during a traffic stop on a darkened onramp of the Orange Freeway. The bullet fractured the officer’s jaw and tore through his neck, leaving behind lead fragments less than an inch from his spinal cord.

The shooting on July 10, 2000, sparked a massive manhunt that stretched to the Mexican border as police scoured the region for Alcaraz, who went by the gang moniker “Chino.”

Alcaraz testified that his gun fired accidentally while aimed at the officer’s bulletproof vest. The shot, he insisted, only hit Geary in the face because the officer ducked suddenly at the sound of gunfire.

Prosecutor John Anderson expressed relief that jurors rejected that explanation and concluded instead that Alcaraz intended to kill the officer.

“The jury just did not buy that,” Anderson said. “It was nothing more than a childlike reaction of someone who was caught. He was saying, ‘I didn’t mean to do it.’ ”

Geary, a Medal of Valor winner, said he was especially thankful. He said he and some of his colleagues worried in recent days that jurors might believe Alcaraz’s explanation for the shooting, which he called “ridiculous.”

“I thought they might be swayed,” he said. “I was sitting there in shock when they were reading the verdicts. . . . They hammered him.”

Geary said four jurors stopped him after the verdict was read Friday to say how outraged they were that someone would try to kill a police officer.

“I’m glad it’s over,” Geary said. “I don’t like to dwell on the past. I don’t think about him. I don’t take it personal. You can’t have a job like this and not expect something like this to happen.”

Geary returned to work 10 months ago and now patrols the same streets where he once lay wounded. Despite what doctors called a remarkable recovery, Geary continues to suffer pain from his wound.

The bullet split into three pieces. The largest remains wedged between two vertebrae. Doctors opted against removing the fragments, fearing they might do more harm than good during surgery.

“I go through pain every day,” he said, “and I will for the rest of my life.”