Man Pleads Not Guilty in Officers’ Shooting

A June 10 preliminary hearing was set Thursday for an Oxnard man accused of shooting two Ventura County sheriff’s deputies in Nyeland Acres last month, prosecutors said.

Emiliano Orozco, 20, allegedly shot and wounded Senior Deputy Michael Martinez, 41, and grazed Deputy Jennifer Sezzi, 30, after the deputies pulled Orozco over during a routine traffic stop April 29.

As one of the deputies began to frisk him, Orozco pulled a gun and began firing, authorities said.

Martinez was hit three times at close range. Two slugs hit his bulletproof vest and a third shattered his shoulder, officials said. Sezzi was also shot in the shoulder, but did not suffer a serious injury.

Orozco pleaded not guilty Thursday to three charges of attempted murder of a police officer for allegedly shooting Martinez and Sezzi and firing at another officer during a later incident, Deputy Dist. Atty. Jim Ellison said. Each charge carries a possible life sentence.

Orozco denied allegations that he used a firearm and inflicted great bodily injury to the officer. He also faces one charge of discharging a firearm at a motor vehicle, in this case a police car, Ellison said.

Orozco is being held in lieu of $1-million bail.