DA: No charges against Salinas cops in 2013 shooting

None of 10 cops — including eight from the Salinas Police Department — will face criminal charges following the lethal firefight with Juan Luis Acuña in July 2013, prosecutors announced Friday.

Each was acting in either self-defense or defense of others, said Monterey County Deputy District Attorney Ed Hazel. Therefore, he said, they were legally permitted to stand their ground against Acuña.

The shooting was Salinas' only officer-involved fatality of 2013. In 2014, Salinas police killed four, sparking significant outcry, especially among the Latino population of the Alisal. Each of the five men killed over the two-year span was Latino.

Acuña, a 30-year-old wanted parolee, had a criminal record dating back to 1999, Salinas Police Cmdr. Vince Maiorana said at the time. He was a high-ranking Sureño known to associate with the Mexican Mafia and connected to a homicide, robbery, firearms possession and gang participation.

In July 2013, the Monterey County Joint Gang Task Force set out to capture him. They believe he was staying at hotels in Salinas with other high-ranking Sureños.

On July 26, 2013, investigators found Acuña at the Vagabond Inn in Salinas. He and another man were ordered to stop. The other man complied, but Acuña fled.

A sergeant gave chase, noting Acuña was armed with a semi-automatic handgun.

"This fact reasonably placed the sergeant in a dangerous position," according to Hazel.

Danger escalated as Acuña fled along crowded, traffic-laden streets about 5 p.m. on a Friday, Hazel wrote.

"Should Acuña decide to open fire, the sergeant and any number of innocent people would be in the line of fire," according to Hazel.

Still, the sergeant continued pursuit, fruitlessly yelling for Acuña to halt.

Other officers soon joined the chase and unsuccessful calls for a peaceful ending. They noted Acuña was, in fact, armed with two firearms. At times, Acuña pointed the weapons at his pursuers, Hazel wrote.

"The situation had now gone from a simple contact and arrest to one where deadly force by Acuña was a very probable reality," Hazel wrote.

A second sergeant in an undercover vehicle found Acuña in a parking lot on the 300 block of East Market Street. There, Acuña leveled a firearm at another undercover vehicle filled with cops.

The sergeant then accelerated his vehicle, slamming into Acuña in the hopes of dislodging his weapons, Hazel wrote. The effort proved unsuccessful.

As the second sergeant approached, Acuña fired a shot at him, Hazel wrote. With Acuña on his knees, all 10 officers — including one Monterey County sheriff's deputy and one California Highway patrolman — surrounded him.

Officers attempted to reason with Acuña, according to Hazel.

"In response, Acuña turned a gun towards his head and began taunting officers to kill him," Hazel wrote.

Eventually, Acuña moved the gun from his head and to his chest before turning the muzzle on all 10 cops.

All 10 fired. Acuña died at the scene.

Toxicology reports show Acuña had a .06 percent blood alcohol content and a likely toxic level of methamphetamine in his system. A shell casing located near the second sergeant's vehicle was tested and proven to have emanated from Acuña's gun.

Legally, anyone can use deadly force if he or she believes there is "an imminent danger of great bodily injury," Hazel wrote. The person is not required to retreat and can even pursue an assailant until the danger of death or injury has passed.

Under specific circumstances, a police officer can use lethal force to prevent a suspect's escape, Hazel wrote. Warning must have been given and the officer must believe the suspect has committed a violent felony.

Lethal force is also permitted if an officer believes the suspect capable of killing or injuring the officers attempting to arrest him or her.

Based on that, Hazel wrote, he could find no legal reason to charge any of the 10 cops with Acuña's death.

"They reasonably acted in self-defense and defense of others," he wrote. He further lauded the officers for "an amazing degree of patience and tolerance in trying to defuse a very dangerous situation."

Acuña could have deescalated the situation, Hazel wrote. Instead, he continued it and presented a danger to innocent civilians.

"For these reasons, their decision to fire upon Acuña before he could shoot again was objectively reasonable under the totality of the circumstances," Hazel wrote.

Salinas Police Chief Kelly McMillin, to whom the letter is addressed, issued a short written statement following the announced decision.

"Any use of deadly force by law enforcement is tragic for all parties involved; however, as is the case here, deadly force is sometimes necessary to protect the public from very dangerous people," he wrote. "The Salinas Police Department is satisfied with the District Attorney's findings in this case."

Last year, however, in the wake of four officer-involved fatalities, he expressed concern for officer safety.

After Salinas police killed Carlos Mejia on May 20, residents rallied, protested and later rioted on North Sanborn Road and Del Monte Avenue.

Another man, 23-year-old Constantino Garcia, was shot near the masses as he stepped outside his house to watch the commotion. In the melee, an officer took a bottle to the head while he administered CPR to Garcia and was hospitalized.

Before releasing the names of the nine officers involved in the four shootings, McMillin said the Salinas Police Department had received myriad threats.

The officers involved in Acuña's shooting haven't yet been identified publicly.

Each of the four officer-involved fatalities from 2014 remains under investigation. Ultimately, the Monterey County District Attorney's Office will make the decision whether to file criminal charges in those shootings.

Follow Allison Gatlin on Twitter @allison_salnews #salinas.