Retired LAPD Detective Pleads Not Guilty to Assault

LOS ANGELES, CA -- A retired Los Angeles Police Department homicide detective pleaded not guilty Tuesday to a felony assault charge stemming from an alleged confrontation last month in a South Los Angeles parking lot.

Charles Gerald Tizano, 70, is charged with one count of assault with a semi-automatic firearm, along with an allegation that he personally used a firearm, according to the Los Angeles County District Attorney's Office.

Tizano allegedly got into a dispute Sept. 6 with the driver of a vehicle that was blocking the exit of a parking lot at West Adams Boulevard and South Broadway. He allegedly pointed a loaded semi-automatic handgun at a bystander who tried to intervene.

Tizano was arrested by officers from the Los Angeles Police Department's Newton Division and was released the next day, according to jail records.

Los Angeles police refused last month to confirm or deny whether Tizano had worked in the Robbery-Homicide Division, saying that they were only required to confirm that he is a "retired Los Angeles city employee" who allegedly "had a dispute with someone" that led to his arrest.

A date is scheduled to be set Dec. 19 for a hearing to determine if there is sufficient evidence to allow the case against Tizano to proceed to trial.

He could face up to 19 years in state prison if convicted as charged, according to the District Attorney's Office.

--City News Service/Shutterstock image