The name of the Guadalupe police officer responsible for shooting a bystander last weekend has been released by state investigators.
Officer Miguel Jaimes is the involved officer in Saturday’s shooting that killed bystander Juan Luis Olvera-Preciado, 59, of Guadalupe, according to the California Department of Justice.
The DOJ initially spelled the officer’s last name as James on Thursday, but it later corrected the identification when notified by Noozhawk.
Jaimes was sworn in as a Guadalupe police officer in January 2020, according to Guadalupe City Council records.
The state DOJ is spearheading the investigation into the shooting under Assembly Bill 1506.
Details about the shooting remain limited.
The Santa Barbara County Sheriff’s Department has said the incident began when Guadalupe police officers recognized a wanted subject at the intersection of Birch and Obispo streets. That person was wanted on an outstanding no-bail felony arrest warrant, according to the Sheriff’s Department.
The Guadalupe police officer, now identified as Jaimes, fired his service weapon at the wanted person, but instead struck an uninvolved resident who was sitting in a vehicle in the 100 block of Obispo Street, the Sheriff’s Department said. The wanted person was taken into custody, and no other injuries were reported.
Authorities have not indicated why the officer drew and fired his weapon.
Names of other officers at the scene had not been released as of Thursday.
Law enforcement records confirm that David Cruz, 29, of Guadalupe was the person with a no-bail arrest warrant who was taken into custody by police on Saturday night. He had been sought for a bench warrant after missing a hearing in late July in Santa Barbara County Superior Court.
Cruz and a co-defendant have been charged with three felony counts of conspiracy to commit a crime through forgery of a check.
The checks reportedly were stolen from at least two separate vehicles, according to court documents.
Cruz also has an active misdemeanor case involving identity theft, possession of methamphetamine and possession of a controlled substance identified as alprazolam (generic for Xanax).
County Jail arrest records show that Guadalupe police arrested Cruz at Obispo and Cedar streets on a no-bail warrant on Saturday night.
Initially held on no bail, Cruz’s bail since has been set at $35,000, and he remained in the custody of the Santa Barbara County Jail on Thursday afternoon.
— 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.