Sebastopol officer involved in Thanksgiving shooting: 31-year veteran on administrative leave

Late Thanksgiving morning, Sebastopol police were called to the
Redwood Grove Apartments on the 7000 block of Fellers Lane in
response to the call of a young woman reporting that her
ex-boyfriend was pounding on the back door of the apartment where
she was staying.
By 11:30 a.m. the man, Pablo Perez Ramirez, 25, had been shot by
Officer Dennis Colthurst, who was the first officer at the
scene.
Perez was later pronounced dead, the first fatal shooting by a
Sebastopol police officer in the living memory of the
department.
Colthurst has been placed on paid administrative leave as the Santa
Rosa Police Department continues the investigation that will be
turned over to the Sonoma County District Attorney’s Office,
according to SRPD Lt. Craig Schwartz.
According to Schwartz, the incident began at 11:24 a.m. when the
woman, 20-year-old Ashley Lyons, called police.
As Lyons was on the phone with the SPD, Perez moved around to the
front door of the apartment. Officers were dispatched at 11:26 a.m.
and Colthurst arrived on the scene at 11:28 a.m.
Before the second officer arrived, Colthurst observed Perez at the
top of a staircase and called to him to come down to the bottom of
the stairs. Perez began to comply, but became uncooperative,
brandishing a handgun at the officer.
“He pulled the gun from his waistband and pointed it at Officer
Colthurst,” Schwartz said.
Colthurst then fired his weapon three times at Perez, hitting him
with each shot.
Perez fell at the top of the stairs, mostly obscured from
Colthurst’s view.
He did not respond to further commands, according to
Schwartz.
Colthurst called for backup at 11:30 a.m. and then called for
emergency responders at 11:31 a.m.
Emergency medical personnel arrived on the scene almost
immediately, but waited for a Sonoma County Sheriff’s K-9 unit to
arrive to check on Perez.
The K-9 unit cleared the scene for emergency medical personnel, who
pronounced Perez dead at the scene at 11:53 a.m., according to
Schwartz.
Investigators later recovered a loaded revolver near Perez.
Perez was a Petaluma resident with a history of arrests that
included convictions for carrying a loaded firearm in 2005 and for
driving under the influence of alcohol in 2007. He was arrested for
resisting a peace officer in 2008, but that charge was dismissed.
He was released into the custody of Immigrations and Customs
Enforcement (ICE) in 2007, 2008, and 2010, according to a report
released by the SRPD.
“I’ve checked with retired Lieutenant Jerry Lites – who started in
1974 – and retired Sergeant Norm McGaffey – who started in 1965 –
and they both are unaware of any prior fatal officer-involved
shooting at our agency,” Sebastopol Police Chief Jeff Weaver wrote
in an e-mail about the incident.
The SPD was unable to give out information on the incident, as the
SRPD and DA’s office are in charge of the investigation – standard
procedure in an officer-involved fatality.
Lt. James Connor, who was acting police chief during Weaver’s
absence, said that an officer’s paid administrative leave while the
investigation is underway is “common practice.”
“The criminal investigation should be completed within 90 days and
from there it goes to the DA for review,” Connor said. “That’s
where any judgment of the incident will come from.”
Connor added that it is standard procedure for the DA’s office to
respond with its investigation within a year.
“They want to do it as soon as possible, so as not to have it
hanging over everyone’s head,” he said.
The SRPD has already begun to refer enquiries back to the
Sebastopol department.
Colthurst, 60, is a 31-year veteran of the SPD. He was named the
Officer of the Year in 1989 and 2006 and was honored by the
American Red Cross in 2007 for rescuing nine children from an
abusive home.
Colthurst was also honored by Mothers Against Drunk Drivers in 2007
for making more DUI arrests in 2006 than any other Sebastopol
police officer.