A Hollywood man accused of assaulting a sheriff’s deputy who found him slumped over his steering wheel on Plum Canyon Road is due in court next week, according to officials.
Jonathan Michael Huehl, 42, a parolee, stands accused of seven felony charges stemming from his Sept. 13 arrest, and remained in custody since September, following 11 continuances for his preliminary hearing, according to court records.
Santa Clarita Valley Sheriff’s Station deputies encountered Huehl in the parking lot of a shopping center around 11:30 a.m. in the 19300 block of Plum Canyon, according to court records.
Deputies saw Huehl appearing to be passed out in a vehicle with the engine running. They also observed drug paraphernalia within arm’s reach of the suspect, according to a court record of the encounter.
Deputies had Huehl sit on the curb while they searched his vehicle, and Huehl then informed them he was a parolee, according to court records. Department of Corrections records from Colorado indicated he was convicted of selling heroin there in 2013 and 2018.
Huehl told officers he’d had a seizure, which is why he was slumped over.
Station officials called L.A. County Fire Department personnel to see if any medical treatment was necessary in response to Huehl’s claim.
Station officials then found a gun in his car, which is illegal for a parolee to have, and began to arrest Huehl, according to a court record of the arrest.
Huehl, who’s listed as 6 feet, 5 inches tall and 170 pounds, according to the L.A. County Sheriff’s Department booking logs, became combative and punched one of the deputies in the face, according to the court record.
Two other responding deputies, along with help from a good Samaritan, ultimately were able to get the man into custody, according to a detective’s account of the incident in court records.
Deputies reported they found a 9mm handgun, which they believed Huehl was trying to grab during the encounter, according to the report.
His May 14 court date to set a preliminary hearing was continued because he refused to leave his jail cell, according to a court order issued the following day. At a preliminary hearing, the L.A. County District Attorney’s Office will present its case and the judge will decide if there’s enough evidence to merit a trial.
He also recently changed counsel, which was another delay cited, and recently enrolled in a treatment program while in jail, according to court records. Last week, the court’s systemwide outage was believed to be responsible for another delay.
His charges include battery against a police officer, resisting arrest, attempt to assault a police officer with a deadly weapon, possession of a firearm by a drug addict, possession of ammunition and carrying a loaded firearm in public.
Huehl’s next court date in San Fernando is scheduled for Aug. 8.
