LAKE COUNTY, Calif. – A man serving a prison sentence for second-degree attempted murder for shooting and wounding a Clearlake Police officer in 1992 was denied parole earlier this week.

On Tuesday, the California Board of Parole Hearings denied parole for 67-year-old Dewey Ringling Hansen.

Chief Deputy District Attorney Richard Hinchcliff attended the lifer hearing at Correctional Training Facility-State Prison in Soledad to argue against Hansen’s release.

Hansen was prosecuted in 1993 by Andrew S. Blum, then the Lake County chief deputy district attorney and currently a Lake County Superior Court judge.

Hansen pleaded guilty to the attempted second-degree murder of John Phillips, who was a reserve police officer for the Clearlake Police Department, the District Attorney's Office reported.

Hansen also admitted to enhancements for use of a gun and committing a felony while on bail, and was sentenced to 23 years to life by Judge Richard L. Freeborn. His minimum eligible parole date is May 7, 2012.

Prior to the shooting of Officer Phillips, Hansen had two prior convictions for armed robbery and one conviction for possession of methamphetamine, and had served prior prison terms on all three cases, the District Attorney's Office reported.

On the day of the shooting Hansen had an arrest warrant pending for a third armed robbery that occurred on July 26, 1992 in Suisun City.

The District Attorney's Office said Hansen also had a 30 year history of chronic methamphetamine, heroin and alcohol use. Hansen claimed to have injected 3/4 gram of methamphetamine just prior to the shooting.

According to investigation reports by the Clearlake Police Department and sentencing reports by the Probation Department, then-Lt. Bob Chalk, who later became Clearlake’s police chief, and Officer Phillips went to an address on 29th Street in Clearlake to talk to the residents in an effort to locate Hansen.

It was not believed at the time that Hansen was at that residence. While Lt. Chalk spoke with the occupants in the front of the residence, Officer Phillips went to a back bedroom that had a light on.

Inside the room Phillips found a closet with the door closed. He started to open the closet door, not knowing that Hansen was hiding inside and had seen the officers arrive.

As Phillips began opening the closet door, Hansen fired two shots with a stolen .25 caliber handgun, striking Officer Phillips once in the head at point blank range. It was later determined that the bullet grazed Phillips head and did no permanent physical damage.

Officer Phillips, who was knocked to the ground when shot, emptied his gun into the closet, hitting Hansen twice.

One shot struck Hansen above his left eye, causing him to permanently lose his left eye.

When Hansen was taken into custody he was found to be  in possession of a knife in each boot, and a brown paper bag with a hold up note in which he threatened he had a gun and would use it if the instructions in the note were not followed. Hansen received medical treatment and survived.

At his sentencing April 30, 1993, Hansen claimed the shooting was out of character for him and he possessed the gun for self defense only.

At Tuesday's parole hearing, which lasted more than three hours, Hinchcliff asked the Board of Prison Hearings to deny Hansen parole on the grounds that he still presented an unreasonable risk of danger to the public if released.

Although Hansen claimed to be remorseful at the hearing and claimed to accept responsibility for the shooting, as recently as December 2010 Hansen claimed that Phillips shot first and caused Hansen’s gun to discharge, the District Attorney's Office reported.

The Board of Prison Hearings commissioners agreed that Hansen still poses an unreasonable risk of danger to the public and denied parole for at least five years.

The District Attorney's Office said Hansen’s next parole hearing will be in 2017.

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