A 38-year-old Mountain View man who was shot by police last year when he drove a stolen truck at at law-enforcement officers serving a warrant for his arrest was sentenced Monday to 10 years in prison.
Jomal Gin Ford pleaded guilty to three charges of first-degree attempted assault and driving a stolen vehicle for the Aug. 20, 2015, incident that took place on Mauna Lani Track Road in Mountain View.
He originally was charged with four counts of first-degree attempted murder and resisting an order to stop, but the charges Ford pleaded to was part of a deal with prosecutors, which called for the 10-year prison term.
According to court documents, Officer Paul Wright and Deputy Sheriff Dennis Branco shot at Ford as he sped toward them in a red 1997 Nissan pickup truck. Deputy Gerard Moses sustained a minor injury when he was grazed by the truck. He was treated and released at Hilo Medical Center.
Ford also was treated and released from the hospital for a gunshot wound to the leg.
Stanton Oshiro, Ford’s court-appointed attorney, asked Hilo Circuit Judge Glenn Hara to run Ford’s prison term concurrently with the five-year prison sentence Ford is currently serving for felony domestic abuse. He argued Ford “did not intend to harm anyone on the day in question” and “was operating under a misconception of fact, unfortunately.”
“He did not realize that the people who were yelling at him and confronting him on his property were sheriffs seeking to execute a warrant. It was not until after the event essentially had finished that he realized, when he saw uniformed police officers, who he was dealing with. By that time, it was a little too late,” Oshiro said.
“As far as Mr. Ford’s prior record, granted, he doesn’t come to court completely unblemished, but in the scheme of things, this court has seen far worse.”
Deputy Prosecutor Michelle West requested Ford’s 10-year term run consecutive to the term he is currently serving, noting Ford’s lengthy record of 19 criminal convictions, including six felonies, dating back to 1998. Those include convictions for negligent homicide and negligent injury for a two-car collision on Hawaii Belt Road (Route 19) on July 4, 1999, at Ookala Bridge in North Hilo that killed 35-year-old John Chavez of Keaau.
“Your Honor, he’s a serious danger to the community, and the community should be protected from him as long as possible,” West argued. “If he’s sentenced concurrently, where’s the punishment? Where’s the consequences for this case if he’s sentenced concurrently? These officers put their lives on the line for the community every single day, Your Honor, and their service would be diminished … if he is given a freebie or a two-for-one in this case.”
Ford addressed the court and said he’s “sorry for what happened.”
“I wasn’t trying to hurt nobody,” Ford said. “When the officers shot at me, all I seen was people. I didn’t see officers there. I ducked and … all I knew after that was they started to unload on the truck. I just hit the gas after that because I didn’t want to be killed.”
Hara ordered Ford’s 10-year prison term run consecutively to the sentence he’s serving, which expires Feb. 20, 2020.
“Mr. Ford, looking at the long history of your criminal convictions, you seem to take very risky actions,” the judge said. “And in one case, it was … criminal negligence that led to the death of some person. And easily, your recklessness in this case could have ended up with serious injury or death to many people involved, including some of the people … who were in the truck with you. They could’ve been easily hit by the bullets or injured when the car went off the road.”
Email John Burnett at jburnett@hawaiitribune-herald.com.