LAKEPORT >> The District Attorney’s Office said on Wednesday that a man arrested on the night of Deputy Rob Rumfelt’s death entered guilty pleas to charges of domestic violence and resisting arrest.
On December 13, Alex Michael Castillo was sentenced to four years and eight months in state prison, the maximum term.
Earlier this year, Castillo was involved in a domestic violence incident with his wife, mother of his two- year old child. The District Attorney’s Office has maintained that on August 22, the defendant had punched his wife in the nose, resulting in a traumatic condition. Further, that upon fleeing the scene with their child in hand, deputies approached Castillo who tried to escape by fighting with the deputies.
The case had received great attention because following the arrest, Rumfelt was killed in a car crash.
At the time, it was believed that the deputy might have suffered a heart attack as a result of the fight with Mr. Castillo. However, the subsequent autopsy did not definitively state that the stress experienced during the fight was the cause of the heart attack.
Deputy District Attorney Daniel Flesch argued at sentencing that Castillo deserved the maximum penalty allowed for by law given his extensive criminal history and the fact that at the time of this incident Castillo was on probation for having committed domestic violence against the same victim just months earlier.
Arguing at Lake County Superior Court in Lakeport, Castillo’s defense attorney requested that Judge Stephen O. Hedstrom give Castillo an early Christmas gift by sentencing him to probation. Flesch, however, argued that probation was not appropriate and that Castillo should be sentenced to four years and eight months.
Flesch believes that the court made the right decision in sentencing Castillo.
“I can only hope that Mr. Castillo will spend his time in prison reflecting on his actions and the impact that they have had on his family and the community,” he said.
