Aliso Viejo man gets 4 years for running over Border Patrol officer

SANTA ANA — An Aliso Viejo man was sentenced Monday to nearly five years in federal prison for running over a U.S. Customs and Border Protection employee at the Federal Building in Laguna Niguel three years ago, leaving the victim with permanent injuries.

Geoffrey Donald Rickner, 48, pleaded guilty in May to driving his Mercedes-Benz sedan into CBP security specialist Jose Gutierrez on March 3, 2016, outside the Chet Holifield Federal Building. After slamming into the victim, the car continued through a metal garage door and crashed into a concrete wall.

Gutierrez — who was in a well-marked crosswalk and wearing his federal employee identification card at the time — suffered serious head and leg injuries, along with broken ribs and internal bleeding, that resulted in a three-week hospitalization. His injuries “continue to cause him pain and physical impairment,” according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office.

Rickner had been behaving suspiciously before the collision, leading building security personnel to detain him at one point, during which he made comments about owing money to the IRS, according to court documents.

Rickner pleaded guilty to one count of assault on a federal employee by use of a dangerous and deadly weapon and inflicting bodily injury.