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Man sentenced for firing into Menlo home

by Dave Boyce

A San Jose man accused of using a semi-automatic, 9 millimeter handgun in 2007 to fire several bullets into a Menlo Park home was sentenced to 13 years in state prison Jan. 25 in a plea agreement with San Mateo County prosecutors. One of the bullets narrowly missed a child.

Arnoldo Anguiano, 30, pleaded no contest to the felonies of aggravated assault and evading a police officer and admitted to a special allegation of the use of a firearm, Assistant District Attorney Karen Guidotti said in an interview.

Mr. Anguiano, according to the prosecutors' account, approached a house in the 1300 block of Madera Avenue in the Belle Haven neighborhood on Oct. 27, 2007, and began shouting for someone named Alexander, who was not at home at the time, and demanded to be let in.

Sitting in the front room of the house were a grandmother and two children, ages 3 and 4, prosecutors said. When Mr. Anguiano did not receive an answer, he fired "six or seven" shots into the house, with one bullet coming within 3 or 4 inches of the head of the 4-year-old, prosecutors said.

The residents called 911. A Menlo Park police officer happened to be a block away and saw the suspect leave the scene, prosecutors said. The officer attempted a traffic stop, but Mr. Anguiano fled over the Dumbarton Bridge at very high speeds. In Newark, he left his vehicle and officers found him hiding in a back yard and arrested him, prosecutors said.

In addition to the time in prison, Superior Court Judge Susan Etezadi ordered Mr. Anguiano to pay fines totaling $340, submit a DNA sample, and pay restitution to the victims in an amount to be determined by the court on March 9, Chief Deputy District Attorney Steve Wagstaffe said in a report.

Mr. Anguiano remains in jail on a no-bail status, prosecutors said. He will receive credit for time served in jail and must serve 85 percent of his prison sentence before being eligible for parole, Ms. Guidotti said.

Mr. Anguiano's defense attorney was not available for comment.