BEAUMONT, Texas —  A teenager with a bullet lodged in his forehead that police wanted removed in order to prove he tried to kill the owner of a used-car lot pleaded guilty Monday to aggravated assault and other charges.

Investigators say that Joshua Bush, 19, was part of a group of gang members who broke into a Port Arthur used car lot in July 2006 and tried to steal vehicles.

According to police, Bush tried to shoot businessman Alan Olive, and when Olive returned fire, a bullet struck the teenager and burrowed into the soft, fatty tissue of his forehead.

Bush had claimed he had been accidentally shot by a friend.

Police and Jefferson County prosecutors wanted doctors to extract the bullet from Bush's forehead. But Bush and his attorney fought the removal because they said it would violate his civil rights.

Authorities eventually dropped their efforts to have the bullet extracted, saying they could pursue the case without it.

Bush was set to go to trial Monday on various charges connected to the robbery and shooting.

Before jury selection began, Bush pleaded guilty to charges of aggravated assault and deadly conduct, Beaumont television station KFDM reported Monday on its Web site.

The deal with prosecutors caps his punishment at 10 years in prison, the Beaumont Enterprise reported Monday on its Web site.

Bush is set to be sentenced in June.

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