Victorville man facing federal charges for allegedly stealing deputy's gun, shooting at her
Last year, he was accused of attempted murder and assault with a firearm on a peace officer but was found not guilty.
VICTORVILLE, Calif. (KABC) -- A Victorville man accused of violently attacking a San Bernardino County sheriff's deputy in 2019 is now facing new charges.
According to the Department of Justice, Ari Aki Young, 26, has been charged with three felonies, including one count of interference with commerce by robbery, 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. He was scheduled to be arraigned in federal court Wednesday in Riverside.
Young is accused of stealing former deputy Meagan McCarthy's service weapon then shooting at her while also attacking her, the DOJ said.
"In responding to a domestic disturbance call and trying to protect defendant's mother, the victim was met by a defendant who allegedly beat her, robbed her of her service weapon, and shot at her as she ran for her life," said United States Attorney Martin Estrada. "Defendant's violent assault on a peace officer is completely unacceptable. Our law enforcement officers put their lives on the line for us every day and deserve to be protected from violent attacks such as this one."
The incident took place on Sept. 4, 2019 on Cabazon Ct. in Victorville.
McCarthy was responding to a 911 call for a domestic disturbance. She responded to the call alone, according to investigators.
"All the information that dispatch relayed to me was a woman was on the phone saying 'Oh my God, oh my God, get my son out of here,'" McCarthy told Eyewitness News last June. "As I'm walking up to the front door of that house, I see the front door open, and out comes the male -- the suspect -- and the woman who I assume is the reporting party, and she has a knife in her hand and she's on the phone with dispatch."
The DOJ said McCarthy tried to pat Young down to check for weapons. Investigators said he "resisted" and "threatened to headbutt her."
"Young then forcefully knocked away the deputy's baton and began to pummel her in the head and face with his fists," said the DOJ. "While being punched in the face and head, the victim unholstered her weapon and warned that she would shoot. Instead of stopping, Young knocked the victim to the ground and straddled the top of her and grappled with her, trying to take her gun from her."
Video shot by a neighbor through an upstairs window appears to show Young and McCarthy struggling.
As McCarthy falls to the ground, there's a struggle over her firearm. Young is then able to remove the weapon from McCarthy.
"I turn and I run, and I run for the nearest cover I can find which is a bush, and I hear a gunshot go off, and I knew he was shooting at me," said McCarthy.
Other deputies arrived moments later, and a deputy-involved shooting occurred.
"After shooting towards the deputy, Young allegedly kept that gun in his hand, racked it again, and walked towards the additional deputies who had just arrived on scene," the DOJ said. "Young did not drop the gun. Instead, he fired another round into the air, prompting the deputies to fire at him, wounding him."
Young was shot several times and was taken to a local hospital. McCarthy was not struck by gunfire but did sustain injuries to her face as a result of the attack.
In June 2023, a jury found Young not guilty of attempted murder and assault on a peace officer, but they hung on the charge of resisting arrest. They found Young guilty of negligent discharge of a firearm, for which he was sentenced to one-and-a-half years in state prison.
READ MORE | Ex-San Bernardino deputy speaks out after jury finds her attacker not guilty
"The deputy in this case was doing just what we want: responding to a call of domestic disturbance, trying to protect the victim, and for that, those basic duties, she was brutally attacked," said Estrada. "We cannot allow this. If we as a society-as a community-allow this behavior to happen, we are lost."
Attorney Raj Maline, who represented Young at his original trial, was infuriated to find out his client had been rearrested on new charges.
"It's unbelievable that they would stoop this low," said Maline. "I've never seen anything like this in 25 years. This is about as low as I've seen a prosecutor go."
If convicted of all the charges announced Wednesday, Young faces a mandatory minimum sentence of 10 years in federal prison and a statutory maximum sentence of 20 years in federal prison on the Hobbs Act charge and 10 additional years on each of the remaining two offenses.
The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives is investigating the incident.
