RSM Man Convicted of Reckless Driving Before Being Shot by Cop

The Rancho Santa Margarita man who was shot outside his home by an Orange County sheriff's deputy was convicted and sentenced Friday for recklessly driving 100 mph through city streets before the shooting occurred.

Dennis Mitchell Mueller, 21, pleaded guilty to one felony count of evading while driving recklessly en route to his home in the neighborhood of Robinson Ranch. In addition to the high rate of speed he reached on Santa Margarita Parkway, he had also run through red lights while evading a motorcycle traffic officer.

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Mueller was sentenced to 180 days in jail and three years of formal probation, though his attorney, Joel Baruch, said that because his client had already spent 90 days in jail he will not have to spend any more time there. About a month after the shooting, Mueller pleaded not guilty to the charges he consented to on Friday.

The story won't end with Mueller's conviction. He has filed a claim against the county for damages that he suffered at the hand of a so-called rogue cop.

The deputy, Sgt. Manuel Cruz, was on his motorcycle on March 10 when he observed Mueller speeding past him near Alma Aldea. Cruz was familiar with Mueller, who has a litany of traffic violations, and went to the neighborhood where he knew Mueller to live. On Meadow Park Lane in front of Mueller's home, Cruz is alleged to have shot Mueller five times—and to have missed him at least twice.

The case is being investigated by the Orange County District Attorney's office, which says that Cruz—with gun drawn—instructed Mueller to stop moving and instead the young man advanced toward the officer reached inside his coat or waistband; Cruz then fired several shots to disable the threat.

Mueller, who was unarmed, was struck at least twice in the abdomen as well as the arm. It was the first officer involved shooting in Rancho Santa Margarita history.

Baruch said that acknowledging guilt for reckless driving and evading a police officer will not affect the civil suit.

Senior Deputy District Attorney Chris Duff of the Special Prosecutions Unit prosecuted this case, but he could not be reached on Friday.

Though just a young man, Mueller has had no fewer than 15 run-ins with the law, beginning at age 13, many of them traffic-related. From March 7, 2011 to the time of the shooting a year later, Mueller had seven run-ins with three different law enforcement agencies.

The district attorney's office says it will release a detailed report regarding the incident at the end of its ongoing investigation; it asks anyone with additional information regarding the case to contact investigator Ron Seman at 714-347-8814.

—City News Service contributed to this report.