SANTA MONICA—Dante Glenn Leverette, 40, of Los Angeles, was sentenced to 125 years in prison on Thursday, August 16, for shooting a Santa Monica Police Department officer in the abdomen and fleeing the scene.
On May 18, 2010, at 1:40 a.m. a Santa Monica police officer pulled over a car driving recklessly at the corner of Lincoln Boulevard and Bay Street under suspicion of the driver being under the influence.
While the officers were conducting a sobriety test on the driver, Leverette, who was sitting inside the passenger seat of the vehicle, exited the car and fired several shots at the officers, hitting one officer in the abdomen. The officer suffered non-life threatening injuries, the SMPD reported.
The Santa Monica Police Department’s S.W.A.T. Team and K-9 officers responded to the scene to search for the suspect. Mutual aid was requested from surrounding police agencies. Officers from Beverly Hills, Culver City, Inglewood, El Segundo, Gardena, Torrance, California Highway Patrol and the Los Angeles Police Department responded to assist.
Several hours later at approximately 5:10 a.m. authorities found Leverette hiding in an alley near the scene where the initial shooting took place. Officers fired upon the suspect, who was also attacked by a K-9. Leverette was taken to the hospital and treated for non-life threating injuries. Leverette was later arrested for attempted homicide.
Leverette was charged with three counts of attempted murder, three counts of assault with a semiautomatic firearm on a police officer, and one count of possession of a firearm.
Prior to the incident, Leverette was facing charges for resisting an officer and a drug offense.
