A year after a California jury acquitted a Victorville man, who allegedly stole a service weapon from a deputy from the San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Department and used that firearm to attack her, of attempted murder, the U.S. Attorney’s Office in the Central District of California announced Wednesday it’s seeking to prosecute the man on federal charges.
Ari Aki Young, 26, was acquitted on May 31, 2023 of attempted murder and assault with a firearm on a police officer, according to court records. Jurors found Young guilty on the charge of firing a gun with gross negligence. He was then released from jail on time served.
“In our review, that was not satisfactory in terms of furthering the interest of justice,” U.S. Attorney Martin Estrada said about the state verdict. “We reviewed the entire case file, and we looked at the case independently. We determined federal charges were appropriate.”
Young was scheduled to make his initial appearance in the federal court in Riverside on three felony charges: one count of interference with commerce by robbery (Hobbs Act), one count of using and discharging a firearm in relation to a crime of violence, and one count of possession of a stolen firearm and stolen ammunition.
The video from the 2019 incident, captured from a home nearby, begins some time after deputy Meagan McCarthy and Young were fighting, and shows Young take McCarthy, then known as Meagan Forsberg, to the ground, where the two struggle over McCarthy’s pistol and rounds are fired into the ground.
Young’s defense lawyer said that while his client beat McCarthy, took her baton and gun, and fired the gun indiscriminately, the video also shows that Young never took aim at the deputy.
The U.S. Attorney’s Office said, unlike the state charges, Young could face decades in federal prison if convicted.
“When a law enforcement officer is trying to do her job and instead gets brutally assaulted by an individual, it is appropriate that there be federal charges, and that we send a message that we will not tolerate this type of behavior.” Estrada said.
