Lancaster man sentenced to 14 months for assaulting a cop

A Lancaster man was sentenced to 14 months in prison for assault and battery on a police officer, but he avoided a potential 30-year sentence after jurors rejected police claims he tried to kill the officer with his own stun gun.

Alonzo Duren, 52, was charged in 2012 with attempted murder, possession of crack cocaine, and unlawfully taking a police officer’s weapon after a scuffle with police. Prosecutors and police alleged that Duren not only took the stun gun from a Lancaster Police Department officer during the fight, but he shocked the officer several times and then tried to kill the officer by choking the officer with his necktie.

The case went to trial after four years this week. Prosecutors said a jury convicted Duren of assault and battery, third degree - a lesser included offense from the attempted murder charge. Court records show Duren received 30 days in prison for the assault, to run concurrent with the 14 months for crack cocaine possession.

The jury found Duren not guilty of a charge of illegally taking a police officer’s weapon.

This story was originally published July 11, 2015 at 6:48 PM with the headline "Lancaster man sentenced to 14 months for assaulting a cop."