A man who shot at Bloomington police officers during a traffic check last year will spend more than a decade in prison.
Joshua Rocha, 22, of Savage, pled guilty in August to three charges of first-degree assault on a peace officer in relation to the Dec. 4 incident near the Mall of America. The attempted murder charges were dropped as part of the plea agreement.
On Friday, a judge condemned Rocha to just over 13 years in jail (160 months). Rocha received credit for 311 days served in jail.
According to the criminal complaint, Bloomington police attempted to stop Rocha for driving the wrong way, but he continued to drive. When he finally came to a halt, he rejected commands to exit the vehicle.
Prosecutors say Rocha started shooting at officers with an assault rifle. Officers took shelter behind a squad car and fired back, striking Rocha in the hand. There were no officers wounded.
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