Drug Suspect Pointed Gun Before Officers Fired, Prosecutors Say

Police shot a Tujunga man seven times during a drug raid that yielded only .002 of a gram of methamphetamine because he pointed a gun at officers, perhaps to delay them while others in the house flushed drugs down a toilet, a prosecutor suggested in closing arguments at the man’s assault trial.

“That gives people a lot of time,” Deputy Dist. Atty. Sidney Trapp told a San Fernando Superior Court jury.

John Gersboll, 40, is on trial on charges of assault with a firearm on a police officer and possession of a silencer. His wife, Samantha, 45, is also being tried for possession of a silencer.

An FBI spokesman said Thursday the agency is still investigating whether police violated the Gersbolls’ civil rights in the raid on their house in the 9900 block of Tujunga Canyon Boulevard on Jan. 23, 1990.

Carrying a search warrant, narcotics officers arrived at the house shortly before 11 p.m., knocked loudly and identified themselves as police officers, Trapp said.

After hearing scuffling inside and footsteps running away from the door, the officers broke open the door with a hand-held battering ram, Trapp said.

“John Gersboll came down the hallway and pointed a loaded weapon at a police officer,” Trapp told jurors. “That’s the case in a nutshell.”

Officers testified that suspects will sometimes point a weapon at officers to hold them off long enough for others to dispose of the drugs, Trapp reminded jurors.

John Gersboll was ordered to drop the weapon, but he continued to advance, Trapp said. Narcotics officers Larry Voelker and David Nila shot him.

Trapp initially told reporters that no drugs were found in the house, but two detectives and a police laboratory technician later testified that a small bag containing .002 gram of methamphetamine was found in John Gersboll’s wallet and that a trace amount of the drug was found on scales in the Gersbolls’ house.

Defense attorneys maintain that the officers never identified themselves as police officers and Gersboll armed himself because he thought they might be robbers.

“They scared the hell out of the people in that house,” defense attorney Malcolm Guleserian told jurors. John Gersboll was “relieved and pleased when he realized it was the police” and he dropped the gun, Guleserian said.

But officers kicked and shot John Gersboll “because he challenged their authority.”

All but one of the bullets hit Gersboll in the backside while he lay on the floor after being shot once in the chest, Guleserian said. As a result of his injuries, Gersboll now walks with the help of a cane.

Defense attorneys argue that the couple is the victim of police brutality and a police cover-up. Guleserian said charges were brought against the Gersbolls only because police “screwed up” and shot him.

He questioned the prosecution’s insinuation that Gersboll pointed a gun to stall for time, asking jurors:

“Was there any evidence that came from the witness stand that there was a toilet flushed? No.”

He also noted that the Gersbolls are not being tried on drug charges.

The Gersbolls are gunsmiths with a federal license to sell weapons. Defense attorneys argued that the scales found in the home were used for reloading ammunition and the “silencer” was actually a handgrip, designed to fit on a gun barrel to protect the user’s hand from heat.

Closing arguments are expected to end today.