A Santa Clarita Valley resident who works for the Sheriff’s Department was arrested more than six months after he allegedly discharged his firearm after a group of neighborhood children pranked him.
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Deputy Sung Jin Pak, 47, of Westridge, was arrested Friday for discharge of firearm with gross negligence, according to officials with the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office.
Pak was twice the victim of a prank called “ding-dong-ditch” around 8:10 p.m. on Oct. 12, according to former sheriff’s spokesman Steve Whitmore, shortly after the arrest.
Related article: Deputy Living In Westridge Suspended For Alleged “Suspicious” Gunfire
“It’s when kids ring the doorbell and then ran away before the (Pak) answered the door,” Whitmore said.
After the second ring, Pak chased down a few of the older children on foot.
When it looked like a few of the older ones were going to confront Pak, he identified himself as a sheriff’s deputy, pulled out his service revolver and fired a round into the air as a warning shot, Whitmore said.
The incident was being investigated because the initial reports caused suspicion to believe that Pak fired his weapon “in a suspicious manner,” Whitmore said.
Pak was suspended with pay in October; Sheriff’s Department officials did not confirm whether Pak was fired in response to the decision by the District Attorney’s Office to press charges.
Pak is due back in court July 12 to face a preliminary hearing on one count.
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