SSF Man's Sentence: 10 Years+ For Gunfire On New Year's

SOUTH SAN FRANCISCO, CA – A 27-year-old man who entered a no contest plea last month after firing a gun during an encounter with South San Francisco police in 2015 was sentenced Tuesday to 10 years and eight months in prison, prosecutors said today.

Around 3 a.m. on New Year's Day in 2015, Ivan Dejesus Gomez was shooting a gun in the air as police responded to First Lane, according to the San Mateo County District Attorney's Office.

Officers found Gomez's car but couldn't find him at first as he hid in the shadows. While inputting his license plate in their system, an officer spotted Gomez watching through the windows of a parked car, prosecutors said.

When an officer ordered Gomez to put his hands up, he allegedly drew a weapon and advanced toward police while firing a shot. An officer retreated to his vehicle and fired at Gomez, who fled the scene but was eventually arrested, prosecutors said. Neither Gomez nor the officer were
struck by the gunfire.

Gomez's defense attorney admitted Gomez fired his weapon but said it was in the air and not at police, according to District Attorney Steve Wagstaffe.

Gomez went to trial earlier this year but a jury deadlocked in May on attempted murder and felony assault on a police officer charges while convicting him of being a felon in possession of a gun.

Before a retrial, Gomez returned to court in November and agreed to plead no contest to the assault charge in exchange for the 10 year, eight month sentence. Prosecutors said.

Gomez has more than four years' worth of credit for time already served in jail after his arrest, according to the district attorney's office.

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