The Santa Maria Police Department’s use of deadly force against documented gang member Samyr Ceballos, which resulted in Ceballos’ death in December 2011, was justified, the Santa Barbara County District Attorney’s Office announced on March 2.
Ceballos, 24, was shot and killed Dec. 8 in front of his Santa Maria home as police officers attempted to arrest him in connection with a drug investigation. According to the DA’s report, that morning, 10 police officers attempted to serve warrants on Ceballos, his home, and his vehicle, a Chevy Yukon SUV. The original plan called for police to execute the warrant when Ceballos left his home, but officers were forced to wait until he dropped his children off at school. On his way back to the house, Ceballos apparently became aware he was under surveillance, the report states, and officers attempted unsuccessfully to box in his SUV.
Once in front of his house, Ceballos appeared to hit a parked car; his two adult passengers fled and were soon detained. Officers surrounded the SUV, telling Ceballos, who was still in the vehicle, to show his hands, and the suspect refused. After an attempt to taser Ceballos failed, the suspect pointed a gun at officers, the report states. One officer fired four shots at Ceballos—missing him—and another officer attempted to pull the suspect out of the car, causing Ceballos’ pistol to fall in the driver’s side pocket. While reaching for the gun, Ceballos was shot once by another officer.
While two officers tried wrestling him to the ground, Ceballos pointed his gun again, and an officer fired multiple rounds, hitting Ceballos three times and possibly striking an officer involved in the altercation in the hand, the report states. Another officer who was part of the physical confrontation was shot once in the leg as he stepped into the line of fire. Investigators concluded Ceballos, who the report says was under the influence of methamphetamine, was shot a total of six times by three different officers, and died at the scene. Ceballos’ pistol was never fired, according to the report.
The investigation, conducted by the Santa Barbara County Sheriff’s Department and forwarded to the DA’s office, didn’t address whether the officers followed police department policies and procedures, which are the purview of the department and the city of Santa Maria. Additionally, the DA found the shooting of the two officers injured by “friendly fire” wasn’t the result of criminal activity on the part of their fellow officers.
The report didn’t release names of the officers who fired on the suspect, nor the names of witnesses to the shooting, out of concern for retaliation from gang members.
This article appears in Mar 8-15, 2012.
