L.A. woman, 88, had private security for protection. A guard shot her on New Year’s Eve
An armed private security guard was arrested after shooting an 88-year-old woman in her Encino home after he mistook her for a burglar on New Year’s Eve, according to officials and the guard’s attorney.
The guard, Kaion Ciego, 34, was arrested Sunday on suspicion of negligent discharge of a firearm but was scheduled to be released Wednesday afternoon after the Los Angeles County district attorney’s office declined to file charges pending further investigation, according to Ciego’s attorney.
The D.A.’s office did not immediately confirm their decision. Ciego has been held in lieu of $1.115 million bail.
The specifics of the shooting were not immediately released by the Los Angeles Police Department or by Ciego’s employer, ACS Security, a Los Angeles-based armed-response private security company.
Police said the woman, who has not been identified, was shot once in the torso at her home on Encino Avenue around 8:30 p.m. on New Year’s Eve by an ACS Security guard who was responding to a burglary alarm. She was taken to a hospital in stable condition.
ACS confirmed the guard was patrolling alone.
A bomb disposal team from Travis Air Force Base determined the bomb was free of explosives and safe to transport.
“On December 31, 2023, one of our clients in the Los Angeles area was shot. This occurred after one of our employees responded to the client’s home. Our hearts go out to the client and the client’s family. We have launched an investigation into this matter and are cooperating with law enforcement authorities,” the company said in a statement.
The company did not immediately answer questions about whether there was an intruder on the property.
Jacqueline Sparagna, an attorney for the guard, said Ciego believed the woman was an intruder when he shot her.
Ciego thought he was alone at the house and that the property owner was not present when he responded to the alarm, Sparagna said. When he saw the woman, who was holding a silver object, he believed it was an armed burglar and fired , according to the attorney.
Sparagna said the guard was outside the house and the woman was inside when the shooting occurred, and that he shot her through a window.
“He didn’t have a clear view,” she said. “It was definitely dark, and he ... thought it was a burglar and the other person had a gun.”
After he shot her, Ciego — who Sparagna said has no criminal record and has worked in private security for more than a decade — ran to his car and called for backup, according to Sparagna.
“It was a total accident,” she said.
The shooting occurred in an upscale neighborhood in Encino, in the San Fernando Valley. Nearly all the homes on the block are protected by large steel or wooden gates.
The house where the shooting took place is one of the few in the area that does not have a gate; an ACS Security sign is displayed in the front yard. Many other neighbors also have armed-security signs.
Despite the shooting, a few neighbors said they would continue to pay for private security, which patrols the streets.
“I think the fact that the area is hopefully patrolled makes it a little better,” said a nearby resident who identified himself as Norman and declined to give a last name. “We constantly hear about burglaries.”
Updates
5:53 p.m. Jan. 3, 2024: A previous version of this article quoted attorney Jacqueline Sparagna saying that the woman who was shot was holding a flashlight. Sparagna now says the woman was holding a silver object, which the security guard thought was a gun.
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