He opened fire on a Madera police officer giving a ride-along. His sentence is decades

The Madera County District Attorney announced sentencing for a man who opened fire on a Madera police officer and a member of the department’s citizens academy who was on a ride-along.

Thomas Garcia was sentenced last week to 31 years and four months in prison for firing more than a dozen rounds at the officer in October 2016. Three shots hit the patrol car — two piercing the windshield and a third flattening a tire. Another bullet went into the bedroom of a nearby home.

The officer was uninjured and the woman got minor cuts from flying glass. Garcia was arrested and charged with attempted murder.

It was reported at the time that Garcia was a Fresno gang member with an extensive criminal history that included assault with a deadly weapon and resisting arrest. He was high on methamphetamine at the time of the shooting, according to police at the time, and one of three people driving in a stolen car just prior to the shooting, which was recorded on the patrol car’s dash camera.

“Holding criminals like this accountable makes Madera county safe,” the DA’s office wrote in a Facebook post Wednesday announcing the conviction.