Man Sentenced in Ambush

A Fountain Valley man who led Glendale police into a fatal ambush was sentenced Monday to a suspended three-year prison term and felony probation after pleading no contest to involuntary manslaughter.

Ronald Davey, 52, lied to two police officers about whether he had seen an attempted-murder suspect at Elegant Angel Video on May 27, 1997.

In a subsequent interview with LAPD investigators, Davey said he had spoken with the suspect, Israel Gonzalez, just 10 minutes before the officers arrived, according to testimony. The officers wanted to speak to Gonzalez about an alleged assault on his girlfriend, authorities said.

Minutes later, Gonzalez gunned down Officer Charles Lazzaretto. Gonzalez fatally shot himself in the head during the ensuing gun battle with police, authorities said.

Lazzaretto died of his wounds the next day.

In February, a jury deadlocked 8 to 4 in favor of convicting Davey on the involuntary manslaughter charge. His plea was entered during a pretrial conference before his retrial.