Advertisement Mug shot released of Salinas man who escaped 2-day standoff Share Shares Copy Link Copy

A standoff that began Tuesday afternoon at a home on Cherokee Drive ended Thursday morning with the escape of a wanted Salinas man.U.S. Marshals Service Cmdr. Michael McCloud said Agustin Leon-Palomares was not in the house when a SWAT team entered the house on the 1300 block Cherokee Drive in Salinas.The Monterey County Jail released a mug shot of Leon-Palomares on Thursday afternoon and he remained at large.Investigators are certain that Leon-Palomares was inside the house during the first half of the standoff because he popped his head out from a vent in the roof.Neighbor William Thielen said, “I saw a bunch of red dots on his face and wall from guns pointing at him.”For 38 hours, the house was surrounded by FBI agents, marshals officers, Department of Homeland Security officers, and Monterey County Sheriff's deputies.U.S. Marshals Service spokesman Frank Conroy said marshals tried to negotiate with Leon-Palomares by using a megaphone, but he refused to exit the house.McCloud said the SWAT team began searching rooms one at a time Wednesday night by deploying pole cameras and robots. Investigators discovered no one was inside at 4:30 a.m. Thursday.Leon-Palomares, 30, is wanted on outstanding warrants for domestic violence and making threats. He is considered armed and dangerous.Investigators told KSBW that they are unsure when or how Leon-Palomares escaped.Cmdr. McCloud said Leon-Palomares must have found a "weak spot."Neighbors who witnessed the 38-hour standoff were shocked that Leon-Palomares was able to escape with such a heavy law enforcement presence surrounding him."He got away. Somebody messed up there I think. I mean, it's embarrassing," neighbor William Thielen said. "Did they check for tunnels?"Neighbor Martie Haney said, "I am very very dissatisfied about everything because we were held two days hostage where we couldn’t go anywhere. The U.S. Marshal I think did a very lousy job."Neighbor Greg Kutter said, "We’re very disappointed that he got away. We have a lot of questions."