Long Beach Woman Pleads Not Guilty To Attempted Murder After Allegedly Driving Into Counter-Protesters In Yorba Linda
SANTA ANA (CBSLA) — A 40-year-old Long Beach woman was charged Tuesday for allegedly driving her car into a group of people in Yorba Linda over the weekend — injuring two.
Tatiana Rita Turner was charged with attempted murder with a sentence enhancement for attempted premeditated murder, six counts of assault with a deadly weapon, one count of mayhem and two counts of illegal use of teargas.
The incident happened Saturday afternoon during a planned Black Lives Matter protest against police violence and systemic racism that also drew a large group of counter-protesters who were there in support of President Donald Trump.
Authorities said an estimated 250 demonstrators were gathered along Imperial Highway.
Deputies with the Orange County Sheriff's Department declared the gathering an unlawful assembly less than an hour after it began and ordered everyone to disperse.
Turner, who OCSD believed to be affiliated with a car-based protest supporting BLM, was driving out of the parking lot of the Yorba Linda Public Library when she drove through an intersection — hitting a man and a woman.
The man suffered two broken legs and the woman sustained major injuries, according to the sheriff's department, and were hospitalized.
Turner pleaded not guilty Tuesday at her arraignment. She is scheduled to be back in court Oct. 28 for a pretrial hearing.
If convicted as charged, she faces a sentence of 20 years to life in prison.
(© Copyright 2020 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. City News Service contributed to this report.)
