The suspect in an April 2009 Canyon Country shooting was sentenced to 38 years in state prison in San Fernando Superior Court last week.

On Wednesday, April 8, 2009, Michael Ray Garcia was identified as the primary suspect in the April 5 shooting that occurred near Pleasantdale and Whites Canyon Road (for the original story, click here) when the COBRA Unit joined forces with the Community Interaction Team (CIT) and served a search warrant in the 23000 block of Via Gayo, Valencia, at 9:30 a.m.

Although detectives missed the suspected shooter on that day, they recovered a 9mm handgun and the vehicle, a white 1994 Infinity that they believe were used in the commission of the crime. They also recovered eight rifles and a second handgun at the location.

Garcia, a suspected gang member on active felony parole for being a convicted felon in possession of a firearm, had been on the run since the day of the shooting and was taken into custody without incident just after 2:30 p.m. on Thursday afternoon, May 21, 2009 at the residence of a relative in Mesa, Arizona. (To read about his arrest, click here)

Detectives from the COBRA Team had been working closely with other outside entities and resources of the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department, including the Department’s Major Crimes Bureau in their direct role with the United States Marshal’s Fugitive Task Force, to track Garcia down. That hard work paid off when representatives from the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department joined United States Marshals and the Mesa Police Department to apprehend Garcia.

Garcia was booked at the Maricopa County Jail on a felony parole violation where he was held without bail and later extradited back to Los Angeles to face felony charges of attempted murder in connection with the case.

On May 25, Garcia was sentenced in San Fernando Superior Court to 38 years in state prison.