A temporary restraining order was filed Wednesday against the
San Benito County sheriff’s deputy who shot an unarmed suspect in
June. While in effect, state law bars him from carrying a
firearm.
Hollister – A temporary restraining order was filed Wednesday against the San Benito County sheriff’s deputy who shot an unarmed suspect in June. While in effect, state law bars him from carrying a firearm.
The sheriff’s office is investigating the incident, along with a crime report filed with the Hollister Police Department on Aug. 18 listing Sgt. Mike Rodrigues as a stalking suspect, Sheriff Curtis Hill said.
“It’s not the first frivolous complaint filed against me by parties on the outside,” Rodrigues said of the restraining order when reached on his cell phone.
Rodrigues said he has been placed on paid administrative leave. Hill declined to say how long Rodrigues will remain on leave, citing peace officer privacy laws.
Hollister resident Amber Elizabeth Cecena, the cousin of Rodrigues’ ex-wife, filed the request for a restraining order, which a judge will hear Sept. 18.
In her declaration, Cecena alleged that Rodrigues argued with her Friday night during three phone calls, according to documents filed with the San Benito County Superior Court. Rodrigues had been calling the phone of his ex-wife, Kristi Rodrigues, Cecena stated in the court documents.
It was the second time Rodrigues was placed on administrative leave in the past three months.
Rodrigues was also placed on paid administrative leave in June after shooting an unarmed man, 29-year-old Israel Guerrero, on Highway 156. He was back at work within two weeks, the sheriff’s office reported. Hill has said Rodrigues followed office policy in the shooting, and District Attorney Candice Hooper has said the shooting was legal. Rodrigues’ 11-year-old daughter was in the patrol car during the incident – a violation of sheriff’s office policy, Hill has said.
The sheriff’s office is also conducting internal affairs and criminal investigations into an Aug. 18 stalking incident in which Rodrigues is listed as a suspect, Hill said. Hill declined to comment on the status of the investigations, citing officer privacy law.
“Allegations are being investigated. We’re trying to do it as fast as we can,” Hill said. The sheriff added, “People need to be held accountable and responsible for their actions.”
Cecena claimed in the documents that she told Rodrigues during the first call that he couldn’t speak to her and the two began yelling at each other.
Cecena alleged that during a second call Rodrigues threatened her, according to the documents.
The court documents stated that on a third call Rodrigues told Cecena: “Well, if you love your cousin so much, I’m gonna have to scrape her dead body off the road and throw her at you and your house.”
Rodrigues said that the restraining order is “ex-wife driven.”
The sergeant said the allegations were “hearsay” and that he did not make the threats Cecena has alleged.
“I didn’t make any reference whatsoever,” Rodrigues said.
Judge Harry Tobias signed the temporary restraining order against Rodrigues on Wednesday.
Regarding the Aug. 18 incident, Hollister police officers were called at 8:49pm to 7-Eleven, 915 San Benito St., for a report that three out-of-town women were being stalked, a felony, said officer Rosie Betanio, a spokeswoman for the Hollister Police Department.
The women told officers that a man in a two-tone, full-size Chevrolet pickup truck bearing plates registered to Rodrigues was staring at them in the parking lot of their hotel, Betanio said. The women felt uncomfortable and drove out of the parking lot and south onto San Benito Street, Betanio said.
The man in the truck followed the women and tried to talk to them at Third and San Benito streets while stopped at a red light, Betanio said, and the women pulled into the parking lot of Hometown Gasoline, 250 San Benito St., losing sight of the truck.
When the women continued back down San Benito Street, the truck reappeared behind them, police said. After pulling into the parking lot of 7-Eleven, the truck left, Betanio said.
