By Paige Barrella
WOODLAND, CA – At a preliminary hearing, Yolo County Superior Court Judge Sonia Cortés last week held there was sufficient evidence to put a man on trial—and jailing him until July 7 on $100,000 bail—for allegedly holding off about 15 officers while armed with a knife and suffering a mental breakdown, said police.
Bernardo Manuel Ibarra is facing felony charges of threat of great bodily injury or death with an enhancement for use of deadly weapon, threat of injury to officer in performance of duty, felony prevention or resist of an executive officer from performing their duties with an enhancement for use of deadly weapon, and misdemeanor exhibition of a weapon other than a firearm, misdemeanor resist of arrest, and misdemeanor trespassing.
The incident occurred April 22 at 5 a.m., according to the court, when police were dispatched to an auto repair shop in East Davis, CA, to remove Ibarra from the premises.
When police arrived at the auto repair shop, they said they found Ibarra sitting down, holding a knife and a metal chain. He asked to be left alone and refused to leave the area where he was sitting, testified police.
After Ibarra refused to leave, the officers present called for backup. Fifteen to 20 more officers responded. Half of them trained their deadly weapons on Ibarra.
“Mr. Ibarra began walking in the direction of officers,” Officer Jeffrey Beck of the Davis Police Department stated in response to questioning from Deputy District Attorney Jesse Richardson during Ibarra’s preliminary hearing, adding, “I fired a 40 millimeter kinetic energy weapon projectile at him.”
Officer Beck stated Ibarra told officers that he was not currently on his psychiatric medications.
When asked by Deputy Public Defender Erin Dacayanan what about Ibarra’s behavior indicated he was having a mental health crisis, Officer Beck responded Ibarra was sweating profusely, saying things about parole, and making comments about his family members and police officers, noting, “It didn’t all add up.”
The standoff lasted for seven to eight hours concluding with Ibarra’s arrest, according to Officer Beck.
“It looked like [Ibarra] was dropping his guard a little bit,” Officer Beck stated on direct examination. Officer Beck and other members of the police force arrested him when he relaxed and closed his eyes, Beck added.
At least two officers fired tasers at Ibarra, while he appeared to be asleep, in the process of making the arrest. Ibarra did not resist arrest, they said.
