Officer Guilty in Off-Duty Shooting Spree

A suspended Los Angeles police officer was convicted Friday of participating in an off-duty drunken shooting spree in Montebello in 1999.

After deliberating for 2 1/2 days, a jury found Steven Michael O’Neal, 31, guilty of the felony charge of allowing another person to discharge a firearm from a vehicle, according to Deputy Dist. Atty. Thomas Krag. He also was convicted of driving under the influence, which is a misdemeanor.

O’Neal was acquitted of aiding and abetting the negligent discharge of a firearm.

O’Neal, whose sentencing is scheduled for March 19, is facing up to three years in prison, Krag said.

Three other officers pleaded guilty in July in connection with the incident.

Osbaldo Camacho and Cesar Roberto Huezo, both 27, and Christian Nicholas Abdelkerim, 28, were sentenced to three years’ probation, fined $1,500 each and ordered to pay $200 each in restitution for negligent discharge of firearms.

The incident began about 3 a.m. July 30, 1999.

The four officers, all assigned to the Los Angeles Police Department’s Southeast Division, and two women left a party at a Whittier restaurant where Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department personnel were celebrating the end of their probationary period.

As O’Neal drove through Montebello, the officers began firing their guns indiscriminately out the windows, authorities said.

They fired at least 16 rounds, prompting several 911 calls. Beer and weapons were found in the officers’ vehicle when they were arrested.

“They were either showing off for the girls or celebrating,” Krag said.