San Benito County Deputy shot at in Hollister

UPDATE: Officials have released the identity of a man who allegedly shot at a San Benito County Deputy.

They say around 11:30 Thursday, a San Benito County Sheriff’s Deputy tried to stop the driver of a vehicle for a traffic violation in the area of East St and 4th St in the City of Hollister. Once the Deputy activated his emergency lights, the driver of the vehicle (later identified as Rafael Rojas), evaded the stop and a pursuit began

The pursuit continued through the city of Hollister at slow to moderate speeds. In the area of Paseo Dr, a single gunshot was fired from within Rojas’ vehicle. The direction of the shot is still under investigation. However, nobody was struck by the fired round.

In the area of the 1300 Block of Marne Dr, Rojas stopped the car and ran into the neighborhood. As the Deputy pursued Rojas, now joined by Officers from the Hollister Police Department, he saw a handgun in Rojas’ right hand. The Deputy and Officers ordered Rojas to drop the gun, but he refused and challenged the Deputy and Officers to shoot him.

Officials say Rojas kicked the gate open to a fence of what was later determined to be the home of a relative. An armed standoff then began in the backyard of the home. Deputies from the San Benito County Sheriff’s Office and Officers from the Hollister Police Department converged on the scene and began evacuating residents from the area.

Officers from the Hollister Police Department engaged Rojas in conversation and negotiations to disarm him for nearly 20-25 minutes. The Sheriff’s Office say their patience and professionalism were paramount to the safe conclusion of this case. At one point, Officers used their phone, and a Deputies phone, to establish a line of communication between Rojas and a family member. The family member was able to work with the Officers and help convince him to drop the gun and surrender.

Rojas was arrested and was uninjured in this standoff. The investigation is ongoing. Rojas has been booked in to the San Benito County Jail on numerous charges to include assault on a peace officer, felony evasion and felon in possession of a firearm.

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San Benito County Sheriff’s Office officials tell KION they are on scene of an incident where a Deputy was shot at.

PIO Capt. Eric Taylor says one of their deputies initiated a vehicle pursuit, at this point for unknown reasons.

At one point the suspect in the car fired a shot at the Deputy, but did not hit him.

The Police Department issued a Shelter in Place in the area of Veterans Memorial Park, however it was quickly cleared. This is where the pursuit ended.

The suspect is in custody and a firearm was recovered.

The Deputy shot at has about 10 years experience and did not return fire. Hollister Police officials are helping with the investigation.

We are working to gather more details on the incident and will update this story as it progresses.