Redondo Beach Man Shot by Deputy Charged With Assault

A Redondo Beach man shot and wounded by an off-duty sheriff's deputy March 26 was arrested Tuesday on felony charges, according to the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department.

Redondo Beach resident Aaron Beierschmitt, 24, and Mark Lewis, 27, of Temple City were both taken into custody on suspicion of assault and making criminal threats after an early-morning confrontation at a drive-through line at a Del Taco restaurant in unincorporated East Pasadena, City News Service (CNS) reported.

As reported by CNS, Lewis and Beierschmitt were with two other people in a car behind the deputy and allegedly "exited their vehicle and, for unknown reasons, accosted the deputy," according to a statement issued by the Sheriff's Department.

The deputy got out of his car and shot them, according to the statement.

Lewis and Beierschmitt were taken to an area hospital and treated for their wounds, deputies said. Both men are expected to survive.

Prosecutors officially charged the pair Friday, a spokeswoman in the District Attorney's Office said. Though detectives asked for charges against two other men in the car, they were not charged. The name of the off-duty deputy has not been made public, CNS said.

If convicted, Lewis could be sent to prison for up to five years, authorities said. Because Beierschmitt has a felony robbery conviction, he could get up to 16 years under the state's "three strikes'' law, which doubles prison time for a second felony conviction and subjects third-strikers to 25 years to life in prison. Each was being held in lieu of $100,000 bail at the Temple City jail, CNS reported.

City News Service contributed to this report.