The fatal officer-involved shooting last year in Solvang of a man suspected of harming a still-missing girl from Vallejo has been ruled a justifiable homicide, the Santa Barbara County District Attorney’s Office announced Friday.
Fernando Castro, 19, was fatally wounded May 26, 2016, after a high-speed pursuit and a pair of shootouts with sheriff’s deputies at two locations in Solvang.
“The deputies’ actions were reasonable … based on the totality of circumstances in this case,” the District Attorney’s Office report said, adding that the circumstances created “a reasonable fear of death or great bodily injury in the minds of deputies.”
The review concluded the deputies “each acted reasonably in his use of deadly force; therefore, the shooting of Fernando Castro is a justifiable homicide.”
Castro is suspected in what began as “a kidnapping and potential murder” in Vallejo of then 15-year-old Pearl Pinson, who remains missing.
The girl was last seen May 25, 2016, when a witness reported someone had been shot on a pedestrian crossing in Vallejo.
An Amber Alert issued the following day led to the sighting of Castro’s gold Saturn on Highway 101 near Los Alamos, but Castro refused a California Highway Patrol officer’s orders to pull over and ended up in Solvang.
Sheriff’s deputies pursued the suspect as he turned off Highway 246 onto Alisal Road and then Fjord Driv,e reaching the entrance to Rancho Santa Ynez Mobile Estates.
The driver jumped out the vehicle raised his right arm, pointed the gun and fired at Deputy Nathan Flint, who shouted “Gun! Gun! Gun!”
The deputy got out of his vehicle and returned fire.
“A bullet fired from Castro’s gun hit Deputy Flint’s windshield and was later recovered from the front passenger seat; debris from this bullet strike is visible on Deputy Flint’s in-car video,” the report said.
Castro fired four shots at Flint and a fellow deputy while Flint fired three rounds at the suspect. One of the shots hit Castro in the leg, the report said.
The suspect ran around a corner and Deputy Jon Simon, observing from the helicopter overhead, saw Castro reloading his gun.
Castro walked east to a mobile home on the 100 block of Val Verde, broke a window and crawled inside, while the resident fled out the side door to escape to a neighbor’s. He remained inside for 25 minutes before stealing a nearby Toyota truck.
Numerous sheriff’s deputies and CHP officers converged on the neighborhood, taking cover behind patrol vehicles and trees as they hoped to contain the suspect.
However, Castro fled in the Toyota truck, traveled over a grassy area and onto Fjord Drive, driving slowly toward officers.
“With his left hand, Castro pointed the barrel of a handgun out of the open driver’s side window at officers,” the report said. “Castro fired three shots and deputies returned fire. Shortly thereafter, Castro’s vehicle came to a stop and Castro was slumped over the steering wheel.
Five law enforcement officers — senior deputies Dave Robertson and B.J. Fortier and deputies Chris Heidt, Jamie Vanwagoner and Mike McNeil — fired at Castro, the report said.
In all, deputies fired 36 .223-caliber rounds, with evidence at the scene matching witness reports that Castro fired at officers who fired back. The deputies used their department-tissued AR-15 patrol rifles, the report noted.
Later examination of Castro’s gun revealed it had three fired .38 Special cartridge casings and still had two unfired cartridges. His firearm, a .38-caliber Rossi M68 revolver, had been modified with a piece of pipe.
A search of the Saturn uncovered more ammunition in the vehicle’s center console.
Days after his death, forensic pathologist Dr. Manuel Montez conducted an autopsy on Castro, determining multiple gunshot wounds as his cause of death.
Castro has 12 gunshot wounds, including one perforating wound to the head, and a penetrating gunshot sound to the neck. He also had wounds in his upper left back and chest, left upper arm, right thigh and left thigh.
The witness claimed a man, identified as Castro, appeared to be forcing Pinson to walk quickly over the crossing, and later said the man was on top of the girl, who appeared to be bleeding from her face.
The girl yelled, “Help! Call the police. He is going to shoot me,” the witness told authorities. The witness fled when Castro pointed the gun in his direction.
Video surveillance captured the Gold Saturn leaving the area, and Solano County sheriff’s deputies searched the man’s residence.
In the suspect’s residence, investigators found .38-caliber ammunition, zip ties, a “suicide letter” and a makeshift gun silencer crafted from an automative filter, the report noted.
“While the note is referred to as a ‘suicide note,’ it was not found in a place where it could have been easily found by family members, and it contained no date indicating when it was written,” the report noted.
The girl’s whereabouts remain unknown.
“As of the time of this report, 15-year-old Pearl Pinson has not been located,” the report said.
— Noozhawk North County editor Janene Scully can be reached at jscully@noozhawk.com. Follow Noozhawk on Twitter: @noozhawk, @NoozhawkNews and @NoozhawkBiz. Connect with Noozhawk on Facebook.