Suspect Indicted in Attack on Police

The Ventura County Grand Jury on Monday indicted a mentally ill Simi Valley man on attempted murder and assault charges for allegedly lunging at police with a knife and prompting an officer to open fire.

Mark Timothy Pedersen, 32, faces a maximum sentence of life in prison if convicted of the two charges, said Senior Deputy Dist. Atty. Donald C. Glynn.

On Dec. 18, a Simi Valley police officer shot Pedersen twice and accidentally wounded a fellow officer when Pedersen allegedly burst out of his bedroom and charged at the officers with a knife.

Neighbors had called police to the home Pedersen shared with his parents because Pedersen reportedly had spent the afternoon shouting religious slogans from his frontyard. Pedersen’s parents said their son stopped taking his medication in the days preceding the shooting, which they said contributed to his irrational behavior.

Glynn said he expects Pedersen’s mental illness will be “an issue in the case. A jury can consider his mental disease” when deciding the case.

Pedersen is scheduled to be arraigned in Ventura County Superior Court today. He is being held in the Ventura County Jail in lieu of $250,000 bail.

Both Pedersen and the injured officer have recovered from their wounds.