§37.5. Aggravated assault upon a utility service employee with a firearm

            A. Aggravated assault upon a utility service employee with a firearm is an assault committed upon a utility service employee who is acting in the course and scope of his duties when the offender knows the victim is a utility service employee and the assault is committed with the intention of preventing the person from performing his official duties and is committed with a firearm.

            B. For purposes of this Section:

            (1) "Firearm" is defined as an instrument used in the propulsion of shot, shell, or bullets by the action of gunpowder exploded within it.

            (2) "Utility service" means any electricity, gas, water, broadband, cable television, heat, steam, telecommunications service, or sewer services.

            (3) "Utility service employee" means any uniformed, readily identified employee, including any person employed under contract, of any utility service that provides electricity, gas, water, broadband, cable television, heat, steam, telecommunications services, or sewer services, whether privately, municipally, cooperatively, or investor-owned.

            C. Whoever commits an aggravated assault upon a utility service employee with a firearm shall be fined not more than two thousand dollars or imprisoned for not less than one year nor more than three years, with or without hard labor, or both.

            Acts 2006, No. 79, §1; Acts 2023, No. 65, §1.