A man claiming to be suicidal has pleaded guilty to attempted murder of a California Highway Patrol officer and attempting to take his holstered gun, which was used to shoot him in the leg.
The scary incident occurred in Mission Valley on April 27, 2022, when CHP officer Tony Pacheco found Yuhao Du, 26, outside his crashed vehicle on Interstate 8 in rush hour traffic.
Du, a former UCSD grad student, earlier pleaded not guilty by reason of insanity but withdrew that insanity plea when he appeared before San Diego Superior Court Judge Polly Shamoon on Feb. 14.
Deputy District Attorney Shane Waller said Du faces an agreed upon term of 22 years and eight months in state prison. Shamoon set sentencing for May 22.
Pacheco testified on Nov. 18, 2022 about a bizarre encounter with Du in which Du asked the officer to kill him, but also grabbed his gun and shot Pacheco instead. Good samaritans who saw what happened stopped their cars and overpowered Du. They held him for CHP, who arrested Du.
“He had a blank stare on his face—a thousand yard stare,” said Pacheco when he first walked up to Du. “It appeared as if he was staring right through me.”
“I got closer and I heard him say ‘I want to kill myself.’ I responded with ‘What?’ and he said ‘Can you kill me?'” said Pacheco in the preliminary hearing.
The officer said there was a struggle for his gun. “It was a fight for my life. I heard a loud pop. I felt my ears ringing,” said the officer.
Pacheco told Judge Aaron Katz he felt the pain go down his leg from the bullet. One of the Good Samaritans gave him his police radio and he was able to call other officers to notify them of what happened. Katz ordered Du to stand trial, which would have started on Feb. 27.
Du told investigators after his arrest that he has previously been in a mental hospital for schizophrenia. Du also said that sometimes he hears voices in his head that command him to do things.
Du remains in the central jail without bail.
Six people who helped the officer and held the suspect for police have been honored by the CHP.
