SANTA ANA – A 20-year-old Anaheim man was convicted on Friday for throwing an object that damaged a police car and inciting protesters to riot at a Donald Trump presidential campaign rally in Costa Mesa last year.

Luis Fernando Alarcon pleaded guilty to one misdemeanor count each of vandalism with damage of more than $400 and inciting a riot, according to the Orange County District Attorney’s Office.

He was sentenced to a year in county jail, which was suspended upon completion of three years of informal probation.

On April 28, Alarcon was with a crowd protesting against Trump along the 55 Freeway in Costa Mesa when he ran toward a California Highway Patrol officer, shouted a profanity, prosecutors said; he then hurled an object from his pocket at the officer’s car.

The officer heard a thud and saw an object that looked like a rock or roof tile fall to the ground. The vehicle sustained $500-plus in damage.

Alarcon returned to the front of the crowd and continued to yell at CHP officers, inciting the protesters as rocks were thrown at the officers, prosecutors said.

Contact the writer: kpuente@ocregister.com