An officer-involved shooting that led to the death of an armed bank robber in August 2017, was deemed a justifiable homicide by the Santa Barbara County District Attorney’s Office.
Santa Barbara County District Attorney Joyce Dudley announced her conclusion in a statement released on May 21, which also stated that the determination followed an extensive investigation and legal analysis of the shooting.
Robert Earl Adams, 30, was shot and killed by Santa Barbara County Sheriff’s Office Deputy Robert Samaniego on Aug. 22, 2017, shortly after he robbed CoastHills Credit Union in Orcutt, according to the District Attorney’s public report on the incident.
Adams entered CoastHills Credit Union with a kitchen knife at 9:04 a.m., according to the report, when he demanded money from a bank teller and a manager. The manager reportedly told investigators that Adams said, “I’m robbing you,” and told her to quietly give him the money.
The manager gave Adams $1,000 and he left at 9:06 a.m., according to the report, which states that multiple employees, customers, and security cameras corroborated the incident.
During the robbery, a CoastHills customer had left the credit union and called 911. When Adams left CoastHills, the customer reportedly followed at a distance and told dispatchers that the robber was headed toward the “Bradley Dip” on South Bradley Road in Orcutt.
Deputy Samaniego, who was on duty as a school resource deputy at Ernest Righetti High School that day, heard the dispatch broadcast on his radio at 9:13 a.m. and immediately responded in his marked patrol car. When Samaniego arrived on scene, the customer who called dispatch reportedly gestured to the Bradley Dip, where Samaniego found Adams walking on the sidewalk.
Samaniego, according to the report, parked his car next to the sidewalk and approached Adams on foot. Samaniego saw the knife, pulled his firearm, and repeatedly ordered Adams to drop the weapon, according to the report, which states that witnesses corroborated the sequence of events that led to Adams’ death.
Adams reportedly ignored Samaniego’s demands and instead approached him with the knife raised. Witnesses told investigators that Adams then “jabbed” at the deputy from less than 10 feet away.
Samaniego shot Adams twice in the chest and once the forearm, then said over his radio that Adams had been shot.
Several other deputies arrived on scene seconds after the shooting, according to the report, and provided Adams with medical assistance until paramedics arrived moments later. Adams died at Marian Regional Medical Center later that morning.
During an autopsy of Adams’ body on Aug. 25, 2017, forensic pathologist Manny Montez found that the cause of death was multiple gunshot wounds. He also found a bullet graze wound to Adams’ head, and determined that it was caused by the same bullet that hit Adams’ forearm, proving that Adams’ arm was raised at the time of the shooting.
The Sheriff’s Office also found that Adams had attempted to cut staff members at his group home in Nipomo the day before the robbery. He had also reportedly stolen and crashed a truck that day.
Based on information obtained during the Sheriff’s Office investigation into the shooting, the District Attorney’s Office concluded that Adams created a reasonable fear of death or great bodily injury in Samaniego’s mind during the incident.
“Deputy Samaniego acted reasonably in his use of deadly force,” the report reads, “therefore, the shooting of Robert Earl Adams is a justifiable homicide.”
This article appears in May 24-31, 2018.
