Man pleads not guilty to firing flare gun at officer

SAN MATEO >> A 44-year-old San Mateo man has pleaded not guilty to firing a flare gun at a police officer, according to the San Mateo County District Attorney's Office.

Yasuhito Oshima entered his plea Thursday in Superior Court. In addition to assault with a firearm upon a peace officer, he is charged with discharge of a firearm with gross negligence, shooting at an inhabited dwelling and shooting at an occupied vehicle.

The police officer was answering a call for service at 9 p.m. Tuesday when a “bright red burning object” whizzed past his windshield near South Delaware Street and Cypress Avenue in San Mateo, according to the San Mateo Police Department.

The object, later identified as a flare, landed in the yard of a home and continued to burn.

The officer stopped to investigate and found Oshima sitting on a bench at a bus stop. Police said Oshima picked up a flare gun and placed it in his right-hand jacket pocket.

Following his arrest, Oshima said he fired the flare gun because he wanted to get help, prosecutors said.

An investigation revealed Oshima had targeted the officer, police said. Officers obtained and served a search warrant at Oshima's home and located a Taser, Taser cartridges, a mace pepper gun, mace pepper gun cartridges and an empty flare cartridge.

Oshima was also linked to an email that was sent to multiple San Mateo County departments in early February, prosecutors said. The email included a video of Oshima appearing to fire a flare gun at the roof of the San Mateo Police Department headquarters at 200 Franklin Parkway.

In addition to pleading not guilty to the charges, Oshima did not waive his right to a speedy preliminary hearing, prosecutors said. That hearing has been scheduled for March 3.

The Public Defender Program was also appointed to represent Oshima, prosecutors said.

Oshima remained in custody Friday on $500,000 bail, according to county jail records.