SANTA ANA, Calif. – A former Laguna Beach police officer has been charged with assault with a deadly weapon for pulling out a gun and holding it to the back of the head of a fellow officer following a night of drinking.
Luke Christian Gilbertson, 35, pleaded not guilty today to one felony count of assault with a deadly weapon and one felony enhancement of the personal use of a firearm during the commission of a felony. He faces a maximum sentence of 19 years in state prison if convicted on all charges.
Gilbertson has been released on $50,000 bail.
On September 23, 2019, Gilbertson was with three other Laguna Beach police officers and a police dispatcher at a pool party and barbeque and then went to two other locations to drink alcohol. The group was in the same vehicle on the way home from a Santa Ana bar when Gilbertson is accused of pulling a handgun from his holster and holding it at the head of a fellow police officer.
No one was injured.
Gilbertson is no longer a member of the Laguna Beach Police Department.
“It is unacceptable for an Officer of the law to behave in a way that so blatantly disregards the well-being of another human. No one is above the law, especially a police officer who was entrusted to protect the innocent,” said Orange County District Attorney Todd Spitzer.
Deputy District Attorney Tara Meath of the Special Prosecutions Unit is prosecuting this case.
