SWAT Teams Will Not Be Criminally Liable For Napa Man's Suicide During Standoff

SWAT teams are not criminally liable for the suicide of a Napa man during a standoff at a trailer in Kenwood in April, Sonoma County District Attorney Jill Ravitch said Friday.

Miguel Angel Garcia, 32, died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound to the chest on April 2 during an attempt by SWAT teams from Sonoma and Napa counties to serve an arrest warrant at the trailer on Hoff Road, Ravitch said.

Garcia was wanted in Napa County on drug, weapon, child endangerment and stolen property charges, and he was suspected of being a contract killer for a cartel and a possible suspect in a kidnapping that led to a homicide, Ravitch said.

During the 30-hour standoff, Garcia revealed he had killed someone in Napa County. He barricaded himself in the trailer, fired at sheriff’s deputies and eventually took his own life. Ravitch said her review of the incident determined there is no basis for filing charges against the SWAT officers and deputies.

On April 3, Napa County sheriff’s detectives found the body of Reynaldo Pacheco, 44, of Santa Rosa near Lake Hennessey. His body had been battered by rocks, sheriff’s Capt. Doug Pike said.

According to the Napa County Sheriff’s Office, Pacheco owed money from a business deal to Angela Martinez Arias, 41, of Petaluma. He met her at her Rohnert Park business on March 24 and both drove in Pacheco’s Range Rover to a rural area near a Petaluma ranch.

Garcia and Maurico Tovar-Telles, 24, were waiting, and they beat Pacheco, tied him up and dropped Arias off in Sonoma, sheriff’s Capt. Doug Pike said. Garcia and Tovar-Telles then picked up Norberto Guerrero Gonzalez, 29, of Napa and drove Garcia to Lake Hennessey where he was killed, Pike said. Garcia then sold Pacheco’s Range Rover in Vallejo, but it has since been recovered, Pike said.

Angela Martinez Arias, 41, of Petaluma was charged with kidnapping Pacheco and pleaded no contest this month in Napa County Superior Court to robbery and carjacking of Pacheco’s Range Rover. Tovar-Telles and Gonzalez were held over for trial on murder, robbery and kidnapping charges.

Both will be arraigned on the charges April 1. Arias will be sentenced March 26.

Previous coverage of the case:

• Missing Santa Rosa Man’s SUV Last Seen March 24 at 7-Eleven on First Street in Napa
• Police: SWAT Standoff Death in Kenwood Was Suicide.
• NEW Twist in Kenwood Shooting: Body Found of Man Believed Killed by Standoff Suspect
• Petaluma PD Addresses Wednesday’s Fatal Standoff at Trailer in Kenwood
• Lake Hennessey Murder Victim ID’d as Missing Man Last Seen at Napa 7-Eleven!
• Petaluma Woman Arrested, Headed To Court For Alleged Role In Kidnapping, Murder of Santa Rosa Man

--Bay City News

--Shutterstock image

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