California: Driver accused of ramming off-duty deputies shot

A driver accused of running over two off-duty deputies was shot by a third off-duty deputy in Vista early Sunday morning, a sheriff’s official said. Several people were arguing in front of a 7-Eleven store on East Vista Way near Palomar Place about 2 a.m. when three off-duty sheriff’s deputies walked up to the group to “intervene and de-escalate the situation,” sheriff’s homicide Lt. Kenn Nelson said in a statement.

Soon after they approached, one of the individuals involved in the altercation got into a nearby vehicle, and backed it up into two of the deputies, knocking one underneath the vehicle, Nelson said. The driver then drove at the other off-duty deputy, who fired multiple rounds at the motorist.

The driver, later identified as 32-year-old Alejandro Blanco, was shot twice, Nelson said. The vehicle stopped, and the deputies assisted Blanco until an ambulance arrived and took him to a hospital. He suffered wounds that weren’t life threatening.

Blanco will be arrested and booked into jail on suspicion of multiple counts of assault with a deadly weapon, Nelson said. The off-duty deputies hit by the vehicle were also treated at hospitals with injuries that weren’t life-threatening.

Investigators are working to determine what the fight was about, how many people were involved, and what the deputies were doing in the area before the altercation unfolded. The 7-Eleven shares a parking lot with several other businesses, including a laundromat, Tasty Pizza, a restaurant, and Jim's Vista Lounge, a bar.

Related Links

Links provided with these articles were active and accurate as of the posting of the article to ResponderSafety.com. However, web sites change and the organization hosting the page at the link may have moved or removed it since this article was posted. Therefore, some links may no longer be active.

Scroll to top