Police Standoff In De Luz Ends With Officer-Involved Shooting

TEMECULA, CA — Southwest Riverside County sheriff's deputies shot a man who holed himself up inside a Temecula-area home for approximately seven hours on Thursday after threatening both family members and law enforcement officials, officials said. The man, who was shot an unknown number of times, is expected to recover.

According to sheriff's Sgt. Chris Willison, it all started around 4 p.m. at a home in the 47400 block of Sandia Creek Drive, which is in the De Luz community.

He said deputies were called to the 20-acre property about to investigate a domestic disturbance and learned that a man, later identified as 59-year-old Robert Utley, had "threatened to harm family members while armed with a firearm, holding them against their will inside the residence."

The family members eventually escaped, and called police, Willison said. Law enforcement responded to the scene and tried to speak with Utley, but he refused to talk and "threatened to cause harm" to anyone who approached.

"From the onset of the incident it was learned that an adult male and adult female were inside of a guest house located within the 20-acre property," Willison said in a news release. "Due to the male being in possession of a firearm and threatening to harm anyone who approached the residence, the Riverside County Sheriff Department’s SWAT Team responded and assumed the investigation."

The SWAT team evacuated the family members who were in the guest house, he said. Meanwhile, a crisis negotiation team tried, unsuccessfully, to get Utley to surrender.

The deputies ultimately stormed the house, opening fire on the suspect, who suffered an unspecified number of gunshot wounds.

"Utley was in possession of a firearm while SWAT Team members attempted to contact him, and a deputy involved shooting occurred," the sergeant said.

According to Willison, Utley was taken to a trauma center for treatment and is expected to recover, after which he'll be booked into the Byrd Detention Center in French Valley on suspicion of making criminal threats and false imprisonment.

— City News Service contributed to this report / Patch file photo by Renee Schiavone