Prosecutors: Newport police officer pleads not guilty in off-duty firearm incident
A Newport Beach police officer pleaded not guilty Thursday to a misdemeanor charge that he discharged his firearm with gross negligence while off-duty, prosecutors said.
According to the Orange County district attorney’s office, Ronald Martin Stucken, 31, left a bar in San Clemente on May 22 with a woman using the Uber ride-hailing app.
The two took an Uber to her neighborhood, where Stucken left the Uber vehicle alone and fired multiple rounds from a firearm that was not his Newport police service weapon, prosecutors said.
Orange County sheriff’s deputies responded to the scene.
To maintain the privacy of the woman, prosecutors said they are unable to reveal the location where Stucken allegedly shot his weapon.
Stucken, who lives in Newport Beach, pleaded not guilty to one misdemeanor count of discharging a firearm with gross negligence. If convicted, he faces one year in county jail.
In a statement to the Daily Pilot, Newport Police Chief Jon T. Lewis said the department learned on May 22 that sheriff’s deputies responded to a call “involving an off-duty Newport Beach police officer who had allegedly illegally discharged his personal firearm. We immediately placed the officer on administrative leave and we have cooperated fully with sheriff’s investigators.”
Twitter: @BradleyZint
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