Steven Carrillo, 32, who is charged with the murder of Santa Cruz County Sheriff’s Sergeant Damon Gutzwiller, will remain in custody without bail until he enters a plea.
Steven Carillo
Carrillo was charged with 19 felony counts in connection with the June 6 crime spree in Ben Lomond. He is charged with premeditated attempted murder of four other officers, two sheriff’s deputies and two highway patrol officers, an armed car-jacking, two attempted armed car-jackings, an assault on a firefighter, the premeditated attempted murder of a good Samaritan with a firearm and an explosive device, and possession of explosives with malicious intent.
Santa Cruz County Superior Court Judge Paul Burdick presided, continued the arraignment from June 12 to July 17 at 1:30 in Department 3. Everyone in court wore a mask to slow the spread of COVID-19, following the health officer’s order.
Here is the description of what happened in the rampage, provided by the District Attorney’s Office:
The incident began when deputies got a call about a white van containing materials including firearms parts and materials to make explosives parked off Empire Grade Road.
Vehicle information from that van led additional deputies to 120 Waldeburg Road in Ben Lomond, a remote mountain area. When Carrillo arrived in a different white van, the first deputy on the scene waited for backup.
Sergeant Damon Gutzwiller was killed when officers confronted Carillo after the Sheriff’s Department received a call about a white van containing firearms and explosives.
When two more deputies arrived including Gutzwiller, Carrillo is alleged to have taken a high position, firing at the three deputies, hitting and ultimately killing Gutzwiller, and attacking them with an explosive device. When officers from the California Highway Patrol arrived, Carrillo is alleged to have opened fire on them. The officers fired back and struck Carrillo.
Prosecutors allege Carrillo was lying in wait to carry out the killing from a position of advantage or surprise, which carries a potential sentence of the death penalty or life in prison without parole.
The District Attorney’s Office not yet decided which penalty will be sought.
Attorney Jeffrey Stotter, a private lawyer who represented Carrillo, told reporters outside the courthouse that he suffered from traumatic brain injury.
Carrillo holds the rank of Air Force sergeant and had been on active duty at Travis Air Force Base.
His wife Monika Leigh Scott Carrillo was an Airman First Class and a mother of two serving in South Carolina when she died at a hotel off base in 2018.
Both of them graduated from San Lorenzo Valley High School in 2006.