‘Disgruntled employee’ charged in chainsaw attack in Torrance

A Compton man who authorities said chased a security guard with a chainsaw and later aimed his truck and accelerated toward a police officer was charged Thursday with multiple felonies.

Jose Felix Campos Cortez faces one felony count each of attempted murder of a peace officer and assault upon a peace officer, and two felony counts each of assault with a deadly weapon and vandalism over $400, according to the Los Angeles County district attorney’s office.

The 44-year-old pleaded not guilty and is being held on $1-million bail, the Daily Breeze reported.

Authorities said the charges stem from an incident that began Tuesday around 6:35 a.m. at a Southern California Edison storage yard in the 17600 block of Yukon Avenue in Torrance. Cortez is alleged to have thrown rocks at the owner of a landscaping business with whom he had previously worked, prosecutors said.

When a security guard tried to intervene, Cortez chased the guard with a chainsaw while trying to start it, prosecutors said.

A former co-worker of Cortez told the Daily Breeze that Cortez was a “disgruntled employee.”

Cortez is also charged with vandalism accused of ramming the business owner’s vehicle with his large work truck. When police arrived on scene, he aimed his truck and accelerated toward an officer, who had to move out of the way, prosecutors said.

Officers fired their weapons but Cortez was uninjured and arrested shortly after, prosecutors said.

If convicted, Cortez faces a possible maximum sentence of life in prison.

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