Local News in Brief : Businessman Guilty of Assault

An Inglewood businessman, who sat on a city commission and the mayor’s anti-crime task force, pleaded guilty Wednesday to assault with a deadly weapon for firing a shot last spring at an Inglewood policeman.

Francisco Avina, 40, will return to Torrance Superior Court on Feb. 21 for sentencing.

Before the guilty plea, Judge Hiroshi Fujisaki dismissed an attempted-murder charge stemming from the same incident. Fujisaki said there was not enough evidence to try Avina on that charge.

Inglewood police said the assault occurred last April when they went to a coin laundry on South Prairie Avenue after a report of a disturbance. Patrolmen said they heard loud noises inside the laundry and thought they had cornered a burglar. Only later did they learn that the man crouching behind a row of dryers was Avina, the owner of the laundry.

Avina ignored orders to surrender and fired a shot that narrowly missed an officer, police said.

Deputy Dist. Atty. Ron L. Smalstig said that he will seek a four-year sentence in state prison for Avina but that Avina has no criminal record and might be sentenced to probation.

At the time of the incident, Avina was a member of Inglewood’s Parking and Traffic Commission and Mayor Edward Vincent’s anti-crime task force. Investigators said drinking and marital problems may have led Avina to the confrontation.