Photo: Valdez’ gun
May 10, 2022 – Santa Barbara County, Ca.
Falling under the legal principle of What Did You Expect?, 46-year-old Santa Maria resident Adam Valdez currently sits in Santa Barbara County Jail on a no-bail hold after responding to contact with uniformed patrol deputies by whipping a pistol out of his pants and firing off a shot at the cops.
According to Santa Barbara County Sheriff’s Department Public Information Officer Raquel Zick, Valdez—with an outstanding arrest warrant for probation violations hanging over his head—spotted detectives attached to the SBSD Compliance Response Team heading toward him in an apartment complex parking area on the morning of May 9 th .
Recognizing the approaching detectives for something other than his neighborhood pals, “he attempted to flee while drawing a firearm from his waistband area.” Valdez then “fired a single shot” and took off running.
Luckily, the bullet fired by Valdez struck neither the detectives nor inflicted injuries on anyone in the area. Valdez’s attempt to flee was for naught, as he was quickly brought to ground by detectives and relieved of the pistol without further gunfire by either pary.
Valdez was promptly taken into custody and transported to Santa Barbara County Jail, where he was booked on a charge of assaulting a peace officer with a firearm and being a felon in possession of a firearm, along with additional charges relating to “outstanding warrants” involving multiple narcotics and weapons-related violations.
Valdez remains in custody on a no-bail hold.
Photo: Courtesy Santa Barbara County Sheriff’s Department
