Darryl Headrick pleaded guilty on Friday to assaulting an on-duty Huntington Beach policeman last year during a routine bicycle stop. A judge sentenced the 60-year-old Surf City resident to six years in state prison for a felony count of aggravated assault and misdemeanor count of resisting an officer.
The cop suffered a concussion during the beat down and had to be taken to UC Irvine Medical Center in Orange for medical attention, a fact that led to a sentencing enhancement for inflicting great bodily injury.
The criminal case stems back to Feb. 9, 2016 when the officer stopped Headrick’s son, Bryce, for a possible traffic violation while riding his bike. The officer spoke to Bryce when his father suddenly came up from behind and punched him in the head. Father and son continued to pummel the unnamed cop on the ground with kicks and punches until he briefly lost consciousness.
The two fled after the officer’s daughter, who had been on a ride-a-long with her dad, yelled at them to stop. Huntington Beach police arrested Darryl shortly after the attack and tracked down his son a few hours later. The Headricks originally faced charges of attempted murder on a police officer. Bryce, 25, pleaded guilty last year to the same charges as his dad did and was sentenced to seven years in state prison.
At Friday’s sentencing, the officer spoke about the impact the beating had on him and, especially, his daughter who witnessed the attack. There’s no word if the Headricks will have more father-and-son bonding time together behind bars.
Gabriel San Román is from Anacrime. He’s a journalist, subversive historian and the tallest Mexican in OC. He also once stood falsely accused of writing articles on Turkish politics in exchange for free food from DönerG’s!