LAKEPORT >> Slightly more than a year after he allegedly accelerated his vehicle backwards, striking a Clearlake Police Department (CPD) officer during a traffic enforcement stop, Daniel Alan York, 54, has been sentenced to a total of 96 years to life plus 25 determinate years in state prison by Lake County courts.
In mid-September, the jury reached a verdict of guilty on five out of the six counts. It was unable to reach a verdict on the count of attempted murder and District Attorney Deputy Art Grothe eventually moved to dismiss the charge.
The jury found York to be guilty of using a deadly weapon, inflicting great bodily injury, having seven prior prison terms and three prior serious or violent felony convictions, which also earned him the sentencing enhancement of California”s three-strikes law.
According to Grothe, for the count of assaulting an officer with force likely to produce great bodily injury, Judge Andrew S. Blum sentenced York to 27 years to life, plus 22 years; for resisting or deterring an executive officer, York received 25 years to life, plus 22 years, which was stayed as it was considered the same as the charge for assaulting an officer. For the count of a hit-and-run resulting in an injury, York received 25 years to life, plus 22 years; for the count of felony vandalism, he received 25 years and for the final count of auto theft with a prior, York received 25 years.
According to a probation officer”s pre-sentencing report, the incident occurred Sept. 22 when two CPD officers pulled York over for driving with a disabled tail light. When the officers were outside their police vehicle, York placed his vehicle into reverse and accelerated backwards, striking Officer Tom Riley. He then immediately drove away, the report stated.
Following the incident, Riley was reported to have sustained serious injuries, including several fractured ribs, a fractured spine and major lacerations to his head and neck.
At the time of the incident, York was a parolee at large with no bail warrant and listed as armed and dangerous, according to the report.
York”s past is sprinkled with various offenses and a history of drug use, the report shows. Starting in 1977, his records reveal a handful of felony burglaries, misdemeanor charges for driving under the influence, a felony of escaping jail, resisting arrest, assault with a firearm on a person and a felony for possession of substances to manufacture a controlled substance.
In a standard questionnaire completed by York, he admits to using methamphetamine once weekly from the age of 19 to the present, using heroin from the age of 25 until last year and using PCP weekly from the age of 14 to the present, according to the report. York”s attorney, Barry Melton, said a number of modifications were made to the pre-sentencing report during the sentencing hearing, although he did not provide the details of changes that were made.
Melton is planning to file an appeal of the court”s decision, he said. The case and trial would be reexamined in its entirety in the first district court of appeals.
