A Wichita man has been sentenced to almost three years in prison for an incident that injured two police officers earlier this year.
46-year-old James Hathorn pleaded guilty in September to residential burglary, theft, possession of a firearm by a convicted felon and possession of a sawed-off shotgun.
Prosecutors said Hathorn was living with his girlfriend in a vacant house in the 18-hundred block of South St. Francis. Police were investigating a burglary report on February 27th when they went into the home. The officers bumped a chair where a shotgun was stored in a side pocket. The shotgun went off, leaving two officers with severe leg injuries. Police said the shotgun was not in safe mode and it did not have a trigger guard.
Sedgwick County District Judge David Dahl said Hathorn did not intend to hurt anyone, but his actions in entering the home without permission and creating an unsafe environment led to the officers being injured. Dahl sentenced Hathorn to 32 months in prison.
