Tag: Baltazar Rubio

Rubio on his back when killed by Gridley police

Body cameras recorded shooting of timid man in mental crisis
by Dave Waddell | Posted January 2, 2024

photo by Dave Waddell
At least one police bullet went into Tanabe Dermatology on Magnolia Street along the alley where Rubio died.

GRIDLEY — A year ago today, in the dawn of a new year, was it necessary for Gridley police to kill Baltazar Rubio, a smallish, timid man in acute mental crisis?

Butte County District Attorney Mike Ramsey, 365 days later, still hasn’t answered that question, though he issued a statement the day after the shooting giving the officers’ version of the deadly event. The three shooting officers – Sgt. Eva Smith and officers Anthony Lara and Garrett Mauldin — were soon returned to duty by the Gridley Police Department.

Body-worn camera videos of the killing of Rubio – recently released after denials and delays by the City of Gridley – raise questions about the tragedy. One critical question is how much danger police were in when, after pausing their gunfire, officers pulled their triggers a few final times. read more

First shooter in police killing sued multiple times

Gridley PD has no record of investigating officer’s prior shooting
by Dave Waddell | Posted January 26, 2023

screenshot from 2019 body cam video

Anthony Lara, the Gridley police officer who fired first in the fatal shooting of a man in mental crisis, has been a defendant in at least two lawsuits claiming excessive force and civil rights violations.

Lara initiated police gunfire that on Jan. 2 killed Baltazar Rubio, 43, of Gridley, who was allegedly pointing an unloaded handgun. The barrage came to total 31 shots fired by three Gridley-Biggs Police Department officers. Police bullets sped both directions down a skinny alley in the middle of a normally peaceful neighborhood, leaving residents stunned and shaken.

In a previous shooting in 2019, Lara fired his gun six times and slightly wounded an unarmed 19-year-old driver despite the teen’s girlfriend’s screams from the backseat. Gridley settled a civil suit stemming from that shooting, paying out $150,000, said Police Chief Rodney Harr. Gridley PD has no record of anyone in law enforcement, including Butte County District Attorney Mike Ramsey, ever investigating the incident -– either criminally or administratively. read more