No charges in California property protection shooting

Sacramento County District Attorney Jan Scully will not prosecute the man who police said shot a 17-year-old boy breaking into his car and then fired several more times as the boy and two other men fled. Sou Saechin, 42, was arrested April 4 on suspicion of assault with a deadly weapon for firing three or four shots at the fleeing suspects, according to Sacramento police. He was not arrested for shooting the boy and, had he not fired at the group as they took off, "it is unlikely that an arrest would have occurred," Sacramento Police Sgt. Matt Young said.

Saechin confronted the boy and his two alleged accomplices outside his south Sacramento home after hearing a noise about 3 a.m., police said. The three were trying to break into Saechin's Honda Civic, parked in the driveway of the family's Rock Creek Way home, to steal its air bags, authorities said.

One of the alleged burglars -- a 17-year-old boy who has not been identified because he is a juvenile -- reached into his sweat shirt and appeared to step toward Saechin, who feared "he was about to be attacked," according to a news release issued by Scully's office. Saechin shot the boy once in the chest with a .22-caliber rifle, police said. He is recovering in a Sacramento-area hospital; his injuries are not life-threatening.

Although Saechin then broke the law by firing at the boy and his two alleged accomplices as they tried to flee in a car, authorities will not prosecute the father of four because "he didn't hit the car," Scully said. Had he injured or killed anyone in shooting at the car, Scully said, she likely would have charged him. "Fortunately, he didn't hit anything," Scully said....

Scully said she had to choose between prosecuting Saechin and prosecuting the alleged car burglars. She said she needs Saechin's testimony and that the suspects -- Marco Virelas, Larry Tran and the 17-year-old boy -- are "the ones I believe pose a risk to the community." "For me, I can't (prosecute both Saechin and the suspects), and the answer is pretty easy," Scully said. Scully's office said her office would prosecute the two adult suspects on burglary-related charges, and noted that both have prior criminal records.

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