An man shot by Oceanside police officers in a confrontation outside his home last month has been charged with six felonies, including two counts of assault with a deadly weapon on a police officer, the prosecuting attorney said Thursday.
A Thursday press release by the Oceanside Police Department incorrectly stated that Gregory Kwok, 48, had been charged with three counts of attempted murder of a police officer.
Gregory Kwok, 48, pleaded not guilty to the two assault charges, two counts of resisting arrest, one count of attempting to take a service weapon from a peace officer, and one count of grossly negligent discharge of a firearm, prosecutor Kate Flaherty said.
In addition to those felony charges, Kwok also pled not guilty to one misdemeanor count of trying to harm a police dog, she said.
He faces up to 10 years in prison if convicted, she said.
Flaherty said Kwok's dog, which was killed in the confrontation, was perceived as a deadly weapon in the incident.
"He came at the police officers with a pit bull," she said.
Kwok was arraigned at his bedside at Scripps Memorial Hospital in La Jolla, where he had been recovering from gunshot wounds since Oct. 26.
Oceanside police Sgt. Kelan Poorman said officers interviewed Kwok for the first time this week and that he was formally arrested and read his rights Wednesday.
Kwok is in sheriff's custody at the hospital in lieu of $250,000 bail, Flaherty said. He will be moved to the medical ward of the Vista jail as soon as he is released from the hospital, she said.
Kwok works as a mechanic and lives with his 81-year-old father, Aubrey Kwok. On Thursday, Aubrey Kwok said he had no comment on his son or his criminal case because it was "a high-profile legal matter." He said no lawyer was available to speak for his son.
Police originally were called to Kwok's home on Lonnie Street after neighbors reported that Kwok and his father were arguing loudly, and that Gregory Kwok had fired a gun into the ground in the front yard, Poorman said.
When police arrived, Kwok allegedly ran inside his house and got his pit bull before coming out again. The man allegedly ignored three officers' commands to stop, instead rushing at them with his dog, trying to grab one of their guns. Two of the officers fired shots and one used a Taser, Poorman said. It is unclear how many times Kwok, who was unarmed, was shot.
One officer shot and killed the dog. None of the officers was injured in the confrontation. Poorman said a police dog was hurt slightly when the pit bull bit it.
The next hearing in the case is Jan. 6.
Posted in Oceanside on Thursday, November 20, 2008 12:00 am Updated: 9:06 pm. | Tags: O.kwok.final.21, Coastal, Local, Nct, News, Oceanside
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