Woman Pleads Guilty To Role In Injuring Police Officer Dragged By SUV

EL CAJON, CA — A woman pleaded guilty Thursday to assault with a deadly weapon on a peace officer and other charges stemming from her role in injuring an El Cajon police officer who was dragged about 200 yards down a roadway by an SUV.

Keani Flores, 30, is set to be sentenced in December for her part in injuring Officer Nicholas Cirello on Dec. 14, 2020.

Cirello suffered serious injuries after investigating an SUV parked in a resident's driveway. Flores and co-defendant David Pangilinan, 43, were asleep inside.

Pangilinan was charged with speeding away while Cirello was speaking with the defendants, while prosecutors say Flores pried Cirello's hands from the SUV's windowsill as it was moving, causing him to fall from the vehicle along West Washington Avenue. He suffered injuries that included a traumatic brain injury and broken bones, which left him hospitalized for nearly a week.

Flores was arrested about a week later in the Madera County city of Oakhurst.

Pangilinan was at large for nearly a month until he was arrested in Los Angeles. Pangilinan also pleaded guilty to assault with a deadly weapon on a peace officer and was sentenced earlier this year to nearly nine years in state prison.

— City News Service