The 21-year-old man subdued by police after a standoff at Hazel
Hawkins Hospital on Tuesday has not been arrested and was placed
with the county Mental Health Department for evaluation.
The 21-year-old man subdued by police after a standoff at Hazel Hawkins Hospital on Tuesday has not been arrested and was placed with the county Mental Health Department for evaluation.
Mental Health officials could hold Hollister resident Jeff Sanchez for 72 hours, but no officials confirmed Wednesday whether he was released. Mental Health Director Allen Yamamoto was out of the office Wednesday, and no other officials there were able to comment on the matter.
During the dangerous 35-minute encounter Tuesday, Sanchez confronted his mother at her workplace, continually shouted and threatened his own life. Finally, he tried leaving the building. When police confronted him, he advanced toward officers with a knife, and they shot him to his knees with non-lethal bean bags.
Hollister police Capt. Richard Vasquez did confirm Sanchez has not been arrested yet. It would be up to the District Attorney’s Office, once it receives a report from the Hollister Police Department, whether to press charges. Vasquez said police detectives were reviewing the case and determining what, if any, crime Sanchez committed.
“I think we’ve got to get the investigation completed and just send it to the district attorney for his review,” Vasquez said.
Sanchez showed up to the hospital where his mother works Tuesday afternoon. Police believe he was under the influence of alcohol. Holding a knife without a handle, Sanchez confronted his mother and another woman in an office. The blade was six inches long, according to a police report. Police initially said it was 10 inches to 12 inches.
Sanchez continually shouted as several police units responded, police said. Police evacuated the main entrance section of the hospital during the skirmish, police said. Eventually, Sanchez let the two women out of the office.
Police negotiated with Sanchez, who continually demanded that officers shoot him. When he tried to leave the hospital through an emergency exit, officers confronted him. Police believe bystanders who had evacuated the hospital also were endangered, according to a report.
Sanchez advanced toward officers holding the blade before they shot him with non-lethal bean bags, prompting him to drop the knife and fall to his knees, the report says. He was treated at the hospital for minor injuries to his wrists – both from the knife and a bean bag – sustained during the episode, police said. Nobody else was injured.
Hazel Hawkins spokeswoman Frankie Valent said the hospital maintains procedures for an array of potentially dangerous scenarios, such as the one that occurred Tuesday.
Sanchez’s mother would not be held accountable for the incident, said Valent, who couldn’t recall a comparable episode happening in recent years.
“It was just an incident, and we just dealt with it,” she said.
Vasquez repeated the sentiments of Chief Jeff Miller and heralded officers’ actions during the incident.
“It could have been a very disastrous outcome,” Vasquez said.
Kollin Kosmicki can be reached at 637-5566, ext. 331 or at
kk*******@fr***********.com
.
