A former UC San Diego physics graduate student who grabbed a California Highway Patrol officer’s gun and shot him during rush hour on a Mission Valley highway was sentenced Tuesday to 22 years and eight months in prison.
The prison sentence was part of a deal Yuhao Du reached when he pleaded guilty in San Diego Superior Court earlier this year to attempted murder. Before reaching a deal, Du – who initially pleaded not guilty by reason of insanity – was looking at a possible sentence of 40 years to life in prison if convicted.
Du, 27, was diagnosed with schizophrenia and spent the weeks leading up to the April 27, 2022, attack shooting at various psychiatric treatment centers in the area, according to testimony at his preliminary hearing.
A few days after his release from a center, he was in a car accident on Interstate 8. When CHP Officer Tony Pacheco arrived on the scene, Du suddenly grabbed his gun. They struggled, then Du shot the policeman in the leg. Bystanders stepped in to help, some gathering Du, others tending to the injured officer.
CHP Officer Antonio “Tony” Pacheco
(California Highway Patrol)
Pacheco did not attend Du’s sentencing hearing. During Du’s preliminary hearing in late 2022, Pacheco said the bullet tore through his right thigh and his recovery was slowed by complications. He has since returned to work, but not yet fully operational.
Assistant District Attorney Shane Waller, who prosecuted the case, said he was “pleased that Officer Pacheco and his family were able to bring closure to this case” and that he believes the lengthy sentence “reflects the seriousness and dangerousness of Mr. Du’s conduct.”
He also said he wanted to thank the good Samaritans who intervened to arrest Du and provide assistance to Pacheco.
Du did not make a statement during Tuesday’s hearing, but Du’s defense attorney said he was speaking on Du’s behalf. “Mr. Du wanted Officer Pacheco to know that he is terribly sorry and remorseful for his conduct,” attorney Domenic Lombardo said after the hearing.
Lombardo said his client “recognized that what he did caused terrible trauma to (Pacheco) and his family.” The attorney said Du had a “delusional belief that the officer posed a threat,” but Du now understands Pacheco was trying to help him.
“He wanted the officer to know that, as much as possible, he hopes that he and his family heal from this event,” Lombardo said.
During Du’s preliminary hearing, Pacheco recounted what happened when he found Du at the scene of the wreck. Du had crashed his black Audi in the central divide along Interstate 8, under an Interstate 805 overpass.
“He had a blank look on his face, a 1,000-yard stare,” Pacheco testified. “It seemed like he was looking right at me.”
The officer remembered the driver, blood streaming down his face, muttering “I want to kill myself.” The driver then asked Pacheco to kill him.
Pacheco said he decided to call an ambulance. He grabbed his radio. The driver rushed to the weapon in the policeman’s holster. “He had this death grip on him,” Pacheco testified. “He had 110 percent energy. It was like superhuman strength.
Pacheco said he kept his right hand on both of Du’s hands, which were on the gun still in its holster, and used his left hand to punch Du in the face several times.
Then he heard a loud noise, followed by extreme pain and blood running down his leg. The gun remained in the holster. The man had been able to flick a finger on the trigger. Pacheco feared the bullet had hit an artery. At the time of the shooting, he and his wife had two young children and she was pregnant.
According to his testimony at the preliminary hearing, Du told an investigator that a voice in his head ordered him to crash the car.
The shooting and Du’s story were highlighted in the Union-Tribune “72 Hours” project, which examined the scope of the mental illness crisis in San Diego County.
The project focused on a period of three mostly random days in 2022 – April 25, 26 and 27 – to get a snapshot of an average day for people with mental illness. The shooting took place in the final hours of those three days.
Du grew up in China. He applied for a student visa and moved to the United States in 2015. Four years later, he earned two bachelor’s degrees from UC San Diego. He then enrolled in a graduate program at the school.
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