UPDATE: Ontel security officer was dragged by pickup before shooting at Salida school
An Ontel Security officer was briefly dragged by a suspect’s pickup before a shooting on a school campus in Salida over the weekend, according to the company’s chief.
The shooting occurred around 6:30 a.m. at the Great Valley Academy at 5901 Sisk Road in Salida, said Ontel Chief David McCann . The officers were dispatched there when Ontel Communications Center received a call from an alarm company about a video alert that showed a suspect at the maintenance yard.
The officers, who are licensed to carry firearms, arrived on scene and found a man in the maintenance yard. He was standing near a pickup and officers could see cut catalytic converters inside.
“Since this was probable cause for a felony theft and since they witnessed the crimes occurring, the Ontel officers attempted to arrest the male subject,” reads a statement by McCann on Ontel’s Facebook page.
As the officers confronted the suspect he walked around the pickup and got in. The officers tried to pull the suspect out but as one of the officers was holding on to him the suspect put the vehicle in reverse and “floored it,” McCann said in a phone interview.
The officer was dragged about 30 feet until the pickup crashed into the officers’ vehicle. The impact threw the officer from the pickup and he landed underneath the bed of the pickup and the front of the car.
Fearing for his partner’s life, the other officer fired once into the pickup, striking the suspect, McCann said.
The Stanislaus County Sheriff’s Department is investigating the shooting.
The suspect fled after being shot. Sheriff’s Sgt. Erich Layton said the suspect drove himself to a Modesto hospital and medical personnel notified police.
He said the suspect remains hospitalized Monday but he did not know his condition.
Layton said the suspect is not under arrest at this point.
The security officer who was dragged by the vehicle was sore but declined medical treatment at the scene, McCann said.
Ontel’s patrol vehicles are equipped with dashboard cameras and all patrol officers wear body cameras. McCann said he turned over all video of the incident to the Stanislaus County Sheriff’s Department.
A 2019 law requires state and local police agencies to release audio and video, including body camera footage, from critical incidents within 45 days unless doing so would hamper an active investigation. The law does not apply to private security companies.
“At this point we are not planning on releasing any video; we are going to defer to the Sheriff’s Office and the District Attorney,” McCann said, because the incident remains under investigation.
He also deferred to the Sheriff’s Department on the release of the officer’s name.
The officer who fired has been with the Ontel for over two years, McCann said. He was put on a three-day paid leave in accordance with company policy.
Layton said the shooting remains under investigation and he had not personally reviewed any of the video so he could not comment on Ontel’s account. He said additional details could be released this afternoon after he meets with detectives.
This story was originally published June 21, 2021 at 11:04 AM.
