Santa Ana man will only be in prison for three years despite charges involving drugs, theft and a police pursuit

Westley Alvarez , a 27-year-old man with a prior conviction, pleaded guilty Wednesday to multiple felonies charging him with shooting another man with a pellet gun before leading police on a chase through several Orange County cities, according to the O.C. Register.

Alvarez got into an argument on Sept. 26, 2015, with another man that he knew from their Santa Ana neighborhood, according to the SAPD.

The victim thought that Alvarez had broken into his car earlier and he asked him if he did. The defendant reacted by getting out of a vehicle that he had stolen, retrieving a BB gun from the vehicle’s trunk, and then shooting the other man with it multiple times from six or seven feet away.

But Alvarez wasn’t done yet. Later that day he returned to the victim’s home and tried to run him over with the stolen Honda Accord, according to the O.C.D.A.

The victim however took a picture of the stolen car and its license plate as the suspect sped off.

SAPD police officers spotted the suspect’s car on Oct. 12, 2015, but when they tried to pull the suspect over he took off, resulting in a police pursuit through several cities including Santa Ana, Fountain Valley and Garden Grove. At one point, the defendant was even driving on the wrong side of the street.

To top it all off Alvarez was apparently high on drugs during the police pursuit.

Alvarez pleaded guilty to a count of assault with a deadly weapon likely to produce great bodily injury, grand theft auto with a prior conviction, theft with a prior conviction of taking a vehicle, buying or receiving a stolen vehicle or equipment with a prior conviction, evading police, evading police against traffic, and driving under the influence of a drug causing injury, all felonies and he also admitted misdemeanor counts of assault with a deadly weapon other than a gun and possession of drug paraphernalia.

After all that however Alvarez was sentenced to only three years in prison.  It won’t be long before he is back on the streets breaking into cars, robbing people, taking drugs and leading the police on future pursuits.

Art Pedroza Editor

Our Editor, Art Pedroza, worked at the O.C. Register and the OC Weekly and studied journalism at CSUF and UCI. He has lived in Santa Ana for over 30 years and has served on several city and county commissions. When he is not writing or editing Pedroza specializes in risk control and occupational safety. He also teaches part time at Cerritos College and CSUF. Pedroza has an MBA from Keller University.

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