(The following story by Kelly Nix appeared on The Californian website on November 20.)
SALINAS, Calif. — A Union Pacific police officer in Salinas shot at but missed a railroad trespasser Tuesday when the man reached for a toy handgun that the officer thought was real, police said.
The suspect, Juan Tena Medrano, 59, a transient, was arrested on charges of trespassing, violating his probation and possessing drug paraphernalia.
Tuesday’s gunfire, which occurred about 6:50 p.m. behind 1 Bridge St., marked the second officer-involved shooting in the city in less than a week.
In the first, a Salinas police officer shot a man Sunday morning after a foot pursuit in the city. The man had pointed a gun at the officer, police said.
On Tuesday, three officers from the Union Pacific Police Department’s Oakland precinct were performing “trespassing sweeps” in Salinas when they came upon three men, said Union Pacific spokesman John Bromley.
“(They) had three individuals detained,” Bromley said. “One of our officers thought he saw a gun …, (Medrano) reached for it and the officer fired his weapon as a result.”
Salinas police Lt. Henry Yoneyama said the plastic toy resembles a semiautomatic handgun.
“In the lighting conditions and the distance, it appeared to be real,” Yoneyama said.
The officer, a department veteran whom Bromley declined to identify, returned to duty Wednesday, Bromley said.
The two other men with Medrano, Ramiro Oregal Lopez, 49, and Jose Norberto Moreno, 45, were cited on suspicion of trespassing and released, Salinas police said.
Trespassing on Union Pacific property is common in Salinas, so the company periodically cracks down on it, Bromley said. The company does not have any officers based in Salinas.
“We have railroad police all over the system,” Bromley said. “They are sworn law enforcement officers and carry firearms and can and do make arrests.”
Most of the Union Pacific police officers are retired from other departments, he said.
Salinas police wrapped up their investigation of the shooting Wednesday and plan to forward it to the Monterey County District Attorney’s Office by the end of the week, Yoneyama said.