A Lincoln Heights man was sentenced Monday to three years and one month behind bars for pouring lighter fluid onto a burning California Highway Patrol vehicle and throwing an electric scooter over a freeway overpass near officers during an unruly anti-immigration enforcement protest in downtown Los Angeles last year.
Yachua Mauricio Flores, 23, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge John F. Walter, who also ordered him to pay $253,415 in restitution.
Flores pleaded guilty in April to one federal count of obstructing, impeding, and interfering with law enforcement officers during a civil disorder.
According to his plea agreement, during the evening of June 8, Flores participated in a riot on the Main Street overpass of the Hollywood (101) Freeway when law enforcement officers were trapped below as protesters threw rocks, chunks of concrete, scooters, street signs, fireworks, and lighted debris at them.
Flores had two opportunities to pour the accelerant.
Flores poured lighter fluid from a plastic water bottle onto a burning CHP vehicle, causing the flames to intensify, prosecutors said.
He directed another person to intensify the blaze.
Immediately afterward, Flores poured lighter fluid from a second bottle onto the burning vehicle.
Minutes later, Flores, along with another person, threw an electric scooter over the overpass railing near CHP vehicles and officers below, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office.
Flores admitted his knowledge of the danger.
Flores admitted in his plea agreement that he knew the officers were under the freeway overpass.
He further admitted that he knew that throwing objects and burning debris created a substantial risk of death or serious bodily injury to the officers.
Federal prosecutors treated the attack with unusual seriousness.
“This civil disorder stood apart in its magnitude,” prosecutors wrote in a sentencing memorandum.
“Violent attacks on law enforcement will result in federal prison time,” First Assistant U.S. Attorney Bill Essayli said in a statement Monday.
In the viral moment that led to the charges, a large crowd of demonstrators gathered on June 8 on the Main Street overpass above Highway 101 in downtown Los Angeles during days of anti-immigration enforcement protests. Law enforcement officers were positioned beneath the overpass.
Protesters threw rocks, chunks of concrete, scooters, street signs, fireworks, and lighted debris at officers trapped below.
Flowers was among those who set the CHP vehicle ablaze by dropping burning debris onto it from above, then intensifying the flames with lighter fluid, prosecutors said.
Five defendants have been sentenced so far in connection with this case, with more to come.
Lead defendant Adam Charles Palermo, 40, of Rampart Village, is scheduled to be sentenced December 14 and faces a maximum sentence of 20 years in federal prison.