COVELO >> A Round Valley Tribal Police officer was shot in the face by a man who fled on foot on Tuesday. After a search lasting several hours, officers detained a Covelo man.
Round Valley Tribal Police arrested Jeffrey Allan Joaquin, 22, after officers located the suspect in Covelo.
He faces charges related to an incident earlier in the day when a homeowner on Refuse Road Tribal Police around 10 a.m. to report an armed man. Two tribal officers responded and, seeing the suspect holding a shotgun in the driveway, one confronted him and demanded that he drop his weapon.
According to a report from the Mendocino County Sheriff’s Office, the suspect fired one round at the officer with a birdshot. The officer shot back twice, missing the suspect, who was hiding behind a car. The suspect put down his gun when witnesses yelled at him to drop it, then took off his shirt and put his hands in the air, feigning surrender, before taking off. Officers saw him running to the west, but lost him.
The tribal officer who had been shot at was not injured, since he was about 50 feet away from the suspect. The report said the pellet did not break the skin because it had dissipated before reaching his face.
The Mendocino County Sheriff’s Office Detective Unit responded and is investigating the case. Joaquin has a felony record.
After his arrest, the suspect was taken to a hospital for breathing difficulty unrelated to the incident, according to a press release from the Sheriff’s Office. He had been shot in the torso by an unknown person on Feb. 7, but did not cooperate with officers on that investigation.
Joaquin had an outstanding arrest warrant at the time of his capture and is being held under a no bail status for violating his probation. The Sheriff’s Office said he refused to cooperate during questioning, so no motive has been established.
