A young man who led Los Angeles police on a high-speed chase during which his passenger fired shots at officers was sentenced Wednesday to 32 years in state prison.
Avel Jowan Turks, now 20, was sentenced by Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Scott Gordon immediately after pleading no contest to two counts of assault on a peace officer.
Turks was behind the wheel of a Chevrolet Tahoe during the chase that turned into a rolling gunfight in which his passenger, Andre Maurice Jones, 37, fired shots two separate times at police.
The two men went in separate directions after the SUV crashed in the area of 37th and Hill Streets just after 2 a.m. on Aug. 18, 2014.
Turks was found hiding in a trash bin, and Jones was killed after getting into a third gun battle — this one with a SWAT team — in which one officer was shot in the leg, according to Deputy District Attorney Robert Serna.
Turks has remained behind bars since his arrest.
–City News Service