Arson Investigator Agrees To Plea Deal For Brandishing Weapons In Bar

WESTMINSTER (CBS) — A Hermosa Beach Fire Department arson investigator pleaded guilty Thursday to misdemeanor vandalism after stabbing a knife into a Sunset Beach bar while off duty.

Darryl Lee Powers, 49, of La Palma, agreed to the plea deal in exchange for prosecutors dropping a misdemeanor charge of brandishing a firearm, Deputy District Attorney Rebecca Olivieri said.

Powers was sentenced to three years of informal probation and 30 days of community service with Caltrans.

A bartender took the knife away after Powers stabbed it into the bar, Olivieri said, but then he pulled a gun from his pocket and placed it on the bar, frightening the woman sitting next to him.

Conflicting accounts from witnesses about what happened led prosecutors to seek the plea bargain, Olivieri said.

Powers is on leave from the fire department, but Olivieri did not have details.

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