A man who was found guilty of felony assault on a police officer, resisting a police officer and battery causing serious bodily damage by a jury last week for assaulting a South San Francisco police officer with a skateboard in 2016 is facing a 20-year prison term after he withdrew his plea of not guilty by reason of insanity Monday, according to his defense attorney and the San Mateo County District Attorney’s Office.
After nine days of trial, Luis Alberto Ramos-Coreas, 30, was found guilty of the three felonies but was found not guilty of attempted murder of 12-year veteran South San Francisco police Officer Robby Chon, a charge that carried a potential life sentence. In March, Ramos-Coreas entered a plea of not guilty by reason of insanity but, in withdrawing the plea Monday, he prevented the trial from going into a second phase in which jurors would decide whether he was insane at the time of the crime, according to prosecutors previously.
District Attorney Steve Wagstaffe said previously Ramos-Coreas could be sentenced to life in a state hospital if jurors find he was insane at the time of the crime. Insanity is a person’s mental state at the time of a crime while competency is a defendant’s ability to aid in their own defense.
Ramos-Coreas’ defense attorney Jim Riley felt the jurors reached the right conclusion with regard to his attempted murder charge and said the evidence with respect to the other charges he was convicted of was sufficient.
“I think [the jurors] reached the right conclusion on all of the counts,” he said.
At around 2:20 p.m. Nov. 24, 2016, Ramos-Coreas is believed to have hit Chon in the head with his skateboard after Chon responded to a report of a man acting irate toward patrons at a business on the 300 block of Grand Avenue, according to prosecutors and police previously.
When officers arrived on the scene, they tried to approach Ramos-Coreas, who was allegedly causing the disturbance, police said previously.
Ramos-Coreas is said to have refused to comply with the officers’ requests. When additional officers arrived, Ramos-Coreas allegedly fled on a skateboard and Chon began chasing him, according to prosecutors.
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During the chase, Ramos-Coreas allegedly stopped, turned and struck Chon in the head with the skateboard. He allegedly started running again but officers were able to capture him, according to prosecutors.
Chon lost consciousness in the attack, suffered a skull fracture and required brain surgery to stop some bleeding, according to prosecutors.
After undergoing multiple surgeries and spending hours in rehabilitation, Chon returned to light duty in January, more than a year after the attack, according to the department.
Wagstaffe noted Ramos-Coreas’ assault on Chon was indicative of the risks police officers take on the job, adding Chon was simply responding to a disturbance when he almost lost his life more than two years ago.
“This is a horrible crime against an officer,” he said. “What this man did deserves him [to be] locked up for as long as can be done.”
Ramos-Coreas is in custody on $2 million bail and will next appear in court Jan. 15 for sentencing, according to prosecutors.
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