Oakdale suspect sentenced for shooting at cars, cops | Crime

OAKDALE, CA - A 59-year-old Oakdale man who shot at passing cars, an inhabited home and local police officers will likely spend the rest of his life in prison.

Daniel Lloyd Rich was convicted of two counts of discharging a firearm and three counts of assault on a peace officer with a semi-automatic firearm plus a firearm discharge enhancement in Stanislaus County Court. He was sentenced to 46 years and four months in state prison.

According to court records, about 3:30 on the afternoon of March 5, 2009, in Oakdale, Rich began firing shots from his apartment balcony at the Golden Empire apartment complex on West F Street. One round lodged in in a passing truck; four rounds were found in a house next-door where a mother and her child were asleep.

The gunfire brought out Oakdale police and a standoff ensued with Rich. The Stanislaus County prosecutor alleged when Rich was ordered by officers to cease and surrender, he fired multiple rounds at them.

No one was hurt.

The motive for the shooting wasn't given but at the time, officers said Rich may have been intoxicated.

Rich pleaded no contest to the charges.