A 34-year-old Tucson man whose gun jammed when he tried to shoot two Tucson police officers last February was sentenced to 31 years in prison Monday.
Pima County Superior Court Judge Howard Fell gave George Uzarga Rodriguez an aggravated sentence, in part, because he was on parole at the time of the incident and has four prior felony and nine misdemeanor convictions.
Last February, one of the officers was near Irvington Road and Interstate 19 when people flagged him down to tell him that two men had walked in front of them as they were pulling out of a parking lot and one of them had pointed a gun at them, according to court documents.
The officer spotted the suspects as they walked into a restaurant and called for backup.
When Officer Michael Szelewski and Officer Simalati Vanisi walked into the restaurant, employees said the men were in the restroom.
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The officers were able to detain one of the men without a problem when he walked out, but Rodriguez refused to comply with the commands by the officer who went into the bathroom to question him.
When the officer who was watching the first suspect heard a struggle inside the bathroom, he went inside to help. Within seconds, Rodriguez produced a gun, pointed it at the officers' heads and pulled the trigger.
"The gun did not fire. Before officers could subdue Rodriguez, he pulled the trigger several more times without it firing," according to the court documents. The officers subdued Rodriguez, but suffered minor injuries.
Rodriguez's Glock .357-caliber pistol had a round of ammunition jammed in the slide mechanism. He had 1.2 grams of cocaine.
Rodriguez spent 11 days in the hospital after having eaten a portion of the cocaine before being taken to jail on multiple felony and parole-violation charges.
Rodriguez was free on bond, awaiting trial, when his parole term expired.
When he was convicted of multiple aggravated-assault charges in November, he failed to show up for the reading of the verdicts, but was arrested on a warrant five days later.
Szelewski and Vanisi said Monday in court that the incident has had a "profound" effect on them and their families.
Szelewski said that for a while he questioned his worth as a public servant and Vanisi said he's gone through counseling.
Rodriguez told Fell he didn't mean for anyone to get hurt.
Contact reporter Kim Smith at 573-4241 or kimsmith@azstarnet.com
