DA: Salinas officer fired multiple shots at vehicle accelerating toward him

SALINAS, Calif. (KION) The Monterey County District Attorney's Office released new details about an officer-involved shooting on S. Main Street Sunday morning.

The DA's Office said the officer fired multiple shots at a vehicle accelerating towards him when he responded to a burglary.

The burglary happened at around 4 a.m. at Sherman's Apothecary Pharmacy. Officials said two people with crowbars got in by shattering the front window.

The entry activated the security along, and Officer Anthony Yates said he heard the alarm as he was driving by. Yates pulled into the parking lot and said he saw a light-colored BMW parked out front. When Yates got out of his patrol car to approach the driver, he said two suspects climbed out of the pharmacy's window and started to run away.

Surveillance video then shows the vehicle reverse and accelerate in Yates' direction, according to the DA's Office. Yates fired multiple shots at the vehicle while moving to safety, but the suspects got away.

About a half hour later, the CHP saw the BMW driving east on Highway 152 toward Merced County, and just after 5 a.m., the CHP reported that it crashed into an embankment near the John "Chuck" Erreca rest area off Highway 5.

The DA's Office said the driver, Rigoberto Palafox, and the passenger, Johnny Vita San, were arrested. Neither was seriously injured by the gunfire. They are booked into the Monterey County Jail.

Law enforcement is still searching for two other suspects.