The Rodeo Inn and neighboring Star Motel have been problem areas, according to police
Possible Drug Deal In Room Went Bad
SALINAS—Salinas Police Officer Joseph Kinney pulled over a suspicious car when it left an area business in a hurry. He pulled over the vehicle on Highway 101 and spoke with the driver, Calvin Harris, who was later arrested for attempted murder and being a felon in possession of a firearm.
Early Tuesday morning, November 24 at around 2 am, Officer Kinney had been on routine patrol in the North Salinas area of Main Street, when he noticed a vehicle leaving the Rodeo Inn at a high rate of speed. His intuition told him that something was up, because the area has a reputation for a high rate of criminal activity.
He decided to pull over the vehicle, and made the stop at US Highway 101 just north of the East Market Street off ramp. As he made contact with the driver, 28-year-old Calvin Harris of Vallejo, other officers were en route to the hotel on a report of a shooting.
When officers arrived on the scene, they found a 28-year-old white female adult victim with a non-life threatening gunshot wound to her lower leg. She was transported to a local hospital where she was treated and released.
There was a second victim in the room as well, a 45-year-old Hispanic male who suffered a non-life threatening grazing bullet wound to his hand. He was also treated and released.
It turned out that the driver who had been detained, Harris, was positively identified as the shooter by the victims. Officer Kinney found in the suspect’s vehicle a semi-automatic firearm that matched the caliber used in the shooting.
As the investigation continued, officers searched a room belonging to 24-year-old Raymond Raygoza and found a rifle and a large quantities of methamphetamine, marijuana and Xanax that were for sale. Both were booked into the Monterey County Jail. Harris was charged with attempted murder, being felon in possession of a firearm, carrying a concealed weapon, and a large capacity magazine.
Calvin Harris had been arrested in March of this year by San Rafael police. While listing his occupation as a winery worker, he was charged with human trafficking for forced labor. He was arrested at the Camelot Apartments in San Rafael, though he lived at the Vallejo address at the time. In November of 2013 he was charged with vandalism, trespassing, and being a felon in possession of a firearm. And the year before that, in July of 2012, he was charged with vandalism, trespassing by driving on private property, and resisting arrest. Further details of those incidents were not available.
