Santa Maria Shooting: Off-duty Santa Maria Police Officer Justified in Use of Force, DA Report States

SANTA MARIA, Calif. – The Santa Barbara County District Attorney’s Office has released its report on the shooting incident involving an off-duty Santa Maria Police Officer in March of 2023. The report concludes that Officer Peña’s use of force was justified under Penal Code section 835(a) and he holds no state criminal liability.

The Officer-Involved Shooting (OIS) Public Report, available on the Santa Barbara County District Attorney’s website, states that Officer Peña found himself in a literal shootout in the parking lot of Melody Market. He was forced to intervene to protect himself and the lives of others caught in the crossfire.

On Saturday, March 25, 2023, at approximately 8 p.m., off-duty Santa Maria Police Officer Antonio Peña parked his vehicle in front of the Melody Market convenience store located at 130 E. Foster Road in Orcutt, according to the OIS report.

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Officer Peña entered the market to purchase items for a birthday party at a friend’s house, leaving his wife and brother-in-law in his parked truck outside. As he exited the store and placed his purchases in the driver’s side seat, he noticed four men engaged in a heated argument in the parking lot, as detailed in the OIS report.

Suddenly, a grey car partially in the market’s parking lot accelerated forward, striking two of the arguing men. Officer Peña then witnessed a man in a red sweatshirt, later identified as Manuel Reyes Rios, pulling out a gun and opening fire on the two men who were just struck by the grey car, according to the OIS report.

Realizing the imminent danger, Officer Peña feared that Rios intended to carjack or shoot him as Rios ran towards the driver’s side of Officer Peña’s truck, passing by the front of the vehicle. Officer Peña, who was not in uniform but had his firearm holstered, drew his weapon in response to shots fired by Rios and another person or persons caught in the crossfire, as described in the OIS report.

With his firearm pointed at Rios, Officer Peña identified himself as a Santa Maria Police officer and commanded Rios to drop his weapon. Ignoring the command, Rios turned his head, made eye contact with Officer Peña, and pointed his gun at him. Fearing for his life and the lives of others, Officer Peña fired three shots at Rios, followed by multiple rounds after observing a muzzle flash from Rios’ gun. The OIS report states that Officer Peña estimated firing his weapon at least 16 times.

During the chaotic incident, Officer Peña also noticed another man running on the east side of the parking lot, armed with a gun. He shouted commands for the man to drop his weapon, but the man continued to flee. Officer Peña refrained from opening fire in order to avoid endangering diners at Chef Rick’s restaurant, which was located behind the fleeing suspect, as explained in the OIS report.

Following the incident, Officer Peña gathered his wife, brother-in-law, and two young girls who were trapped in another vehicle at the market’s parking lot. They sought shelter inside Melody Market, barricading themselves, before Officer Peña dialed 911 to report the incident, according to the OIS report.

The investigation into the incident was conducted by detectives from the Santa Barbara County Sheriff’s Office. They collected cell phones and video surveillance footage from multiple cameras, some of which was released publicly in April of this year. Crime scene investigators also recovered ballistic evidence, including spent cartridge cases and intact bullets, from various locations in the Melody Market parking lot, outside the Thai Hut next door, and inside a wall of the Thai Hut restaurant, as outlined in the OIS report.

The OIS report reveals that investigators discovered a Glock-style 9mm pistol without a serial number next to Rios’ body, along with a satchel containing an additional magazine that matched the handgun. In addition, investigators recovered two spent shell casings and a fully intact bullet near the front door of Melody Market, all of which were determined to have been fired from the handgun recovered next to Rios.

Furthermore, investigators found four shell casings on the sidewalk near the Thai Hut, unrelated to the gun recovered near Rios or Officer Peña’s weapon. These findings supported Officer Peña’s account of a shootout with unknown suspects who fled the scene, as stated in the OIS report.

An autopsy conducted on Jose Manuel Reyes Rios concluded that he sustained 12 gunshot wounds to his torso, butt, right arm, and left leg. His cause of death was certified as a homicide, as detailed in the OIS report.

The OIS report concludes that Officer Peña’s actions were reasonable based on the facts known and perceived by him at the time of the shooting. It states that Officer Peña reasonably believed that Rios posed an imminent threat of serious bodily injury to himself, his wife, brother-in-law, and other individuals in the vicinity.