The Orange County District Attorney’s Office has ruled Newport Beach police acted properly when officers shot a man last summer who fired a weapon at them, the department announced Friday.
In a letter to Newport Beach Police Department Chief Jay Johnson dated Wednesday, the Orange County District Attorney’s Office ruled the July 11 shooting of Scott Jay Abraham, who survived, justified.
On the day of the shooting, Abraham was acting irrationally, witnesses told investigators. In one incident, he walked into an apartment on Seashore Drive carrying a small tool and spoke gibberish to a woman staying in the vacation home.
When the woman’s husband and cousin confronted Abraham he threatened them with a screwdriver and declared he was president of the United States, according to prosecutors.
Later that evening, Abraham — wearing only black boxer shorts — discharged a gun twice toward the beach on Seashore Drive, prosecutors said. That prompted police to surround his residence.
Abraham did not respond to multiple warnings to drop a weapon, and when he opened fire with a gun facing toward two officers and the beach he was shot by police.
Abraham pleaded guilty April 6 and was sentenced to 240 days in jail.
— City News Service