Boy, 14, Convicted in Inglewood Officer’s Murder

A 14-year-old boy was convicted of first-degree murder and robbery Wednesday for driving a getaway car used in a robbery that led to the death of the only Inglewood police officer to be killed in the line of duty in that department’s 80-year history.

Inglewood Juvenile Court Judge Charles Scarlett found the boy guilty of the murder of Sgt. George Aguilar after seven days of testimony in a non-jury trial, prosecutors said.

The youngster, whose identity was not disclosed because of his age, faces a maximum penalty of 25 years in prison when he is sentenced Aug. 3. Prosecutors said he will serve his time in a California Youth Authority facility until age 21.

Aguilar, 46, a 17-year police veteran, was gunned down March 31 on a busy street while chasing a man suspected of robbing a courier and stealing his car. The sergeant was en route to police training classes in Oxnard when Masih Madani, who had been robbed at gunpoint in a gas station, flagged him down.

Madani and Aguilar followed Madani’s stolen car. When Aguilar pulled alongside the car, the suspected robber, Leslie Holget, 32, fired several shots, fatally wounding the sergeant.

Holget escaped on a stolen bicycle, police said. Suspects spotted by police in a second car also escaped. But witnesses supplied a partial license plate number.

Officers were waiting when Holget and a woman companion entered the car the next day, touching off a high-speed, 45-mile chase to Newhall. Holget shot himself to death as officers converged on the scene.