Like a scene out of a movie, a bullet hit him square in his body-armored chest, damaging his body camera but otherwise causing no serious injuries.

“The evidence, when we looked at it closely over the past year, really didn’t line up with his story,” Deputy District Attorney Jason Malinsky said Friday. “That includes ballistic evidence.”If the placement of that gunshot, from a shadowy fast-moving assailant, seemed suspiciously perfect, prosecutors agree.

“Gill is now charged with faking the attack — reported almost a year ago to the day — after a lengthy investigation found forensic inconsistencies and no definitive evidence of the purported drive-by reservoir shooter.

Gill was placed on administrative leave while the incident was investigated.

Sukhdeep Gill Arrested

Deputy Sukhdeep was arrested Friday on a $10,000 warrant and booked at the Main Jail, but was expected to be released in accordance with the county’s emergency COVID-19 $0 bail policy that was recently extended to June.

Gill allegedly staged the shooting were not immediately released. The section of the criminal complaint detailing the vandalism charge states that Gill “did maliciously damage and destroy property, specifically, a body-worn camera and a Santa Clara County Sheriff‘s Office patrol vehicle.”

Sukhdeep Gill California

The shooting was reported by the deputy the night of Jan. 31, 2020 after he said he pulled over to the side of Uvas Road north of Wallace Place in unincorporated Morgan Hill, purportedly to urinate. Gill told investigators that a car approached, then its headlights turned off, followed by four gunshots, with one bullet hitting him in the chest and three others hitting his SUV.

Gill said he fired at least two retaliatory shots, and that he had fallen down an embankment. At a news conference a few days after the incident, Sheriff Laurie Smith said: “it was an ambush” and praised the deputy’s bravery. An investigative lieutenant called it “a targeted attack.”

Sukhdeep Gill Attorney

A year later, the asserted heroism and horror of that night is being treated as a complete fabrication. Legal analyst and criminal defense attorney Steven Clark said any criminal case for which Gill gave testimony is fair to question.

He added that it could have been worse, had law enforcement spotted a car resembling the depiction Gill gave out that night.

According to the sheriff’s office website, Gill has a court appearance scheduled for Monday.

Sukhdeep Gill Facebook

Sukhdeep Gill’s Facebook has not been found yet.