By Jose Medina and Max Kennedy Jr.
WOODLAND – After allegedly evading a police car in pursuit and throwing a loaded revolver out the window of his vehicle on Oct. 6 of last year, Robert Thompson appeared at a preliminary hearing on Jan. 26 before Judge David Reed in Sacramento County Superior Court.
Deputy District Attorney Matt De Moura called Detective Dalbinder Dulai as the main witness, who said he initially attempted to pull over Thompson’s vehicle last October after noticing the illegally tinted front windows. However, he said Thompson accelerated away when Dulai activated his lights.
During the ensuing chase, Det. Dulai claims Thompson drove well over the speed limit and ran through multiple stop signs and red lights. At one point, Thompson allegedly threw a black object out the window. Det. Dulai later recovered a loaded revolver in a black sleeve from the same location. The firearm was not registered, he said.
Thompson did not seem to directly dispute those facts at this hearing, but reportedly told Det. Dulai that he only took those actions because he was actively threatened by an armed passenger.
After the incident occurred, Dulai recalled that he talked with Thompson at a probation office and asked him about the details of the incident. A discrepancy was detected when Thompson told the detective he mistook the armed passenger as his old friend.
Thompson allegedly told Dulai that “when he picked up an old friend of his, he later said he did not recognize the person who he thought was his old friend.” Dulai said Thompson claimed the stranger handed him the gun that Thompson then discarded.
Det. Dulai abandoned the pursuit after he said he nearly caused an accident, but the same SUV was later found and identified by another officer.
Other aspects of the event remain unclear. Upon his arrest, Thompson claimed a third person was in the back seat. According to Dulai, this third person denies being in the vehicle. According to Det. Dulai this person was pulled over, by another officer, driving Thompson’s SUV after the incident.
Detective Dulai managed to arrive at the scene where the person was pulled over. According to Detective Dulai the person “was very nervous and was wondering why he was pulled over.”
Adding further to the confusion, the person told Det. Dulai that “Thompson had told him to pick up the SUV vehicle and that he got a ride from his uncle to pick up Thompson’s SUV.”
In addition, the true identity of the armed passenger remains unknown as well.
After hearing the discrepancies of the case Judge Reed moved forward with the charges, and with a perturbed tone in his voice stated “I foresee interesting issues in trial.”
Jose graduated from UC Davis with a BA in Political Science and has interned for the California State Legislature. He is from Rocklin, CA.
Max Kennedy graduated from Harvard in 2016 with a degree in history. He is an intern with the San Francisco Public Defender and most recently worked as a digital organizer with Joe Biden for President.
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