A tense three-hour standoff at Immaculate Conception Church in
Tres Pinos ended peacefully Saturday when San Benito County
Sheriff’s deputies talked a man with a knife into surrendering.
A tense three-hour standoff at Immaculate Conception Church in Tres Pinos ended peacefully Saturday when San Benito County Sheriff’s deputies talked a man with a knife into surrendering.
Deputies arrested Fernando Sanchez, 28, of Salinas on suspicion of burglary, vandalism and assault with a deadly weapon and took him to San Benito County Jail where he is being held in lieu of $90,000 bail, according to jail records.
Investigators said they do not know whether Sanchez was under the influence of a drug or if he was having a mental breakdown when he started tearing apart the church’s rectory.
After Sanchez’s arrest, he was taken to Hazel Hawkins Hospital for treatment of a wound.
“It appears he had a small knife wound and we moved him there because they have better medical facilities than is available at the jail,” Sheriff Curtis Hill said.
The incident reportedly started Saturday morning when Sanchez told his wife, Elizabeth, that he was going to church in Tres Pinos.
Elizabeth Sanchez told deputies that her husband had a dream telling him to go to the church, the sheriff’s department said. She reportedly told deputies something was immediately wrong when they arrived at the church, because Sanchez tensed up and started acting strangely upon exiting the car.
“She said it was as though he was possessed or something, because he does not drink or do drugs,” Lt. Michael Covell said.
Sanchez reportedly broke into the church rectory and begged the priest, Father Lawrence Betrozoff, to hear his confessions and remarry him and his wife.
In hopes of calming Sanchez, Betrozoff, 64, did what Sanchez wanted. Once the priest finished, Sanchez reportedly started screaming and yelling, saying he was going to kill himself. He took off all of his clothing, according to the sheriff’s department.
Sanchez’s alleged rampage then escalated as he reportedly started tearing up the interior of the rectory, the sheriff’s department said. Betrozoff and Elizabeth Sanchez fled the building and called the sheriff’s department for help.
A group of deputies, with help from several California Highway Patrol officers, surrounded the scene.
When deputies tried to go inside the rectory and talk to Sanchez, he was reportedly nude and charged at deputies with a large knife, investigators said.
Deputies backed off to a safe distance around the church and started negotiating with Sanchez, the sheriff’s department said.
Deputies had to bring in a priest from Sanchez’s parish, Father Tovias Araiza, to calm him down and convince him to surrender without hurting himself or anyone else, the sheriff’s department said.
Investigators said it took nearly two more hours of extensive discussions to convince Sanchez to surrender.
“Our officers used great restraint and did a great Job,” Covell said. “We also thank the CHP for their help.”
After Sanchez received a few stitches for his chest wound, he was booked into the county jail, where officials called in a county mental health officer to evaluate him.
“They said whatever was wrong or whatever mental episode Sanchez was having was over and that he is sane now,” Covell said.
As a precaution, Sanchez was placed under a suicide watch at the jail.
