Suspect shot Newman corporal because he ‘did not want to go to jail’, detective testifies
Paulo Virgen Mendoza told a detective that he fired a gun at Newman Police Cpl. Ronil Singh after Singh pulled him over because “he did not want to go to jail.”
“He took a handgun out of the center console and was loading it as the officer approached,” Detective Jesse Tovar testified Wednesday at Mendoza’s preliminary hearing. “He said he was afraid, he did not want to go to jail because he had marijuana in his vehicle.”
Singh pulled over Mendoza at Merced Street and Eucalyptus Avenue in Newman just before 1 a.m. on Dec. 26, 2018, on suspicion of driving under the influence.
He approached the left side of the gray Dodge Ram that Mendoza was driving and told him to turn off the engine.
Singh radioed for backup and a Spanish-speaking officer to assist him.
Seconds later, Singh called out on the radio, “Shots fired! I’ve been hit!”
Mendoza told Tovar that there were already three or four bullets in the magazine for the 9 mm Smith and Wesson he retrieved from the center console and that he added another four or five.
Mendoza said Singh “was walking away from him” when he reached his right arm across his chest and began firing out of the truck’s window, Tover testified. Mendoza said Singh was about 10 or 12 feet away at the time.
Suspect fired five rounds; Singh shot back twice
Mendoza fired five rounds, hitting Singh four times, according to evidence presented during the preliminary hearing. The corporal returned fire twice with his Glock 22 service weapon.
The first shot fired by Mendoza went through Singh’s left arm and struck his heart and lung before exiting the right side of his body.
“He turned and started to flee north, and the second shot perforated his right ear and knocked out his earpiece,” Stanislaus County Sheriff’s Detective Cory Brown testified on Monday.
Singh fired off two rounds, one of them hitting the passenger door on the Dodge Ram.
Mendoza fired three more rounds, Brown testified. One of them hit Singh’s right shoulder, stopping in his clavicle, and another became lodged in the back lower portion of his bullet-proof vest.
Tovar said Mendoza told him “he didn’t think he hit him, he was trying to scare him.”
Mendoza drove away after the shooting.
Law enforcement that converged on the area after the shooting initially thought Singh had been kidnapped and was in the Dodge. They were assembling search teams when one of the responding sheriff’s deputies spotted Singh lying in the street northwest of his patrol vehicle. His Glock 22 was found under his body.
The gun Mendoza fired was recovered from a dumpster at his uncle’s ranch on Jack Tone Road, east of Stockton.
Mendoza told Tovar that after he learned Singh had died, he went to his uncle’s ranch with his brother and co-worker. He’d hoped he could stay there a few days.
Tovar also interviewed Mendoza’s uncle, who said Mendoza told him that “he put some bullets in an officer.”
The uncle told them to leave at that point, and as they did, Mendoza’s co-worker tossed a bag containing the gun in the dumpster.
Detectives found it, along with ammunition in the magazine and an additional 65 rounds in a sunglasses case, wrapped inside a plastic bag from a mini market called Newman Foods.
Mendoza had just bought Tecate and Modelo beer at Newman Foods when Singh followed him out of the parking lot and pulled him over.
Mendoza was found 55 hours after the shooting, hiding at his aunt and uncle’s home in Lamont, near Bakersfield. He was waiting for someone who was supposed take him to Mexico. His aunt, Maria Luisa Moreno, was arrested on federal charges, but she was found not guilty following a trial in September.
Six others convicted in case
Seven people were charged federally with crimes related to helping Mendoza attempt to escape capture. All but Moreno have been convicted.
Testimony in the seven-day preliminary hearing for Mendoza concluded Wednesday.
Chief Deputy District Attorney Marlisa Ferreira and Mendoza’s attorney, Stephen Foley, will make final arguments Thursday before Judge Ricardo Córdova decides whether there is enough evidence for Mendoza to proceed to a jury trial.
The District Attorney’s Office is seeking the death penalty against Mendoza.
