The District Attorney of Los Angeles County has been chastised by the sheriff, who claims the police were “never consulted” in the ‘lightweight sentence” given to a youngster who attacked a mother and her child while high on drugs.
George Gascon, 68,’released a statement indicating that the Sheriff’s Department was okay with the lightweight penalty’ handed down to the now 17-year-old offender, according to Alex Villanueva, 59, in a Facebook statement.
Because we were not the investigating agency, we were never consulted. The low penalty in this hit-and-run case would never be acceptable to Sheriff’s Investigators,’ he said.
‘Stop supporting and empowering criminal activity.’ #VictimsMatter, so hold them accountable.’
Gascon, who has been under fire in recent months as Los Angeles has seen a spike in violence, called the punishment “an appropriate result.”
His office has been criticized of being lenient with criminal sentences and rehabilitating criminals.
For the August offense, the adolescent was sentenced to five to seven months in a juvenile probation camp. Prosecutors have attacked the probation camps in Los Angeles, describing them as “less than a military school and a little bit rougher than a summer camp.”
The goal of juvenile justice, according to the Gascon office, is to’rehabilitate young people.’
According to Fox News, the 17-year-old has pled guilty to two felony counts of assault by means of force likely to cause bodily injury and a single felony offense of hit-and-run.
The baby was unhurt, but the mother was severely injured, with glass protruding from her flesh for two months and some of her skin pulled close to the bone.
The teen had tested positive for drugs at the time and was driving in the wrong direction down the one-way street. Surveillance video shows the motorist straying to the side of the road and colliding with the victim Rachel and her son Charlie.
In her victim impact statement, Rachel stated that the teen accelerated as he approached her.
The juvenile offender was observed attempting to flee the scene before colliding with a pickup truck, forcing the teen to collide with a pole.
With his mild sentencing, Rachel accused Gascon of ‘prioritizing the livelihood of rotten creatures,’ adding, ‘George Gascon doesn’t respect my life, the life of my child, or the life of any other victim out there.’
She said she tried to get out of the way in the narrow alley, but the car veered towards her and smashed into her and the stroller, throwing her over the top of the car and crashing into the baby.
![The sheriff posted the statement on Facebook and told the DA to 'hold [criminals] accountable'](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2022/06/04/19/58683151-10885023-image-a-67_1654368940611.jpg)
‘I thought we were dead; those were the last minutes of our lives,’ she wrote. ‘That sensation, together with the recollection of a car slamming into us, will stay with me forever.’
She recalled the terrifying moment he charged towards her and her baby in great detail.
‘As the automobile neared my child and me, I stopped walking and pushed the stroller and myself up against a building on the right side of the road to give the reckless driver plenty of room to pass,’ Rachel explained.
‘As the automobile approached us dangerously near, KB turned the wheels in our direction and accelerated, intent on killing us.’
She stated she was terrified until he was apprehended seven months later, and that she is still afraid.
‘I was also assured that when he becomes 18, his record will be cleared,’ she continued.
‘How is that possible?’ He attempted to assassinate two unwitting passersby. Murder. We have video proof as well. If I hadn’t been there to defend him, my child would have died.’
The district attorney’s office pledges that KB will receive the care he requires, but Rachel expressed her displeasure with the decision to send him to probation camp.
‘I have never been more astonished or disappointed, and, in fact, I have never felt so victimized as I have by LA’s DA, George Gascon’s system and current policies,’ Rachel wrote.
‘My heart hurts for all of the other victims out there who are less fortunate than me, whose killers are receiving lenient penalties and being released before their sentences are completed.’
Her rehabilitation was slow, and her skin was virtually peeled to the bone in several areas, she said in her statement.
‘Blood was splattered all over my body.’ My right elbow needed stitches when it split open when I landed on the ground after rolling off the windshield. My right shoulder was virtually peeled to the bone, yet that skin couldn’t be stitched back together. My arms, wrists, and elbows were completely covered with road rash.
‘Glass shards continued to protrude from my skin for two months following the attack.’ I had bruises all over my left side of my body from where the car hit my leg and how I fell on the hood and windshield, as well as bruising on my hips from the car contact and the fall to the ground.
‘This assault has radically impacted my life and my family’s lives.’