Officer tells of frantic fight with armed suspect

California Highway Patrol Officer Tim Fautt was in "self-preservation" and "panic" modes as he struggled with an armed man at an Acampo dairy, he testified Friday in a Lodi courtroom.

He was in fear for his life and never took his eyes off the barrel of the gun that May day in Acampo, he said. Ultimately, Fautt gained control, took the suspect to the ground and was able to call for backup.

That arrest led to 20-year-old Roberto Emmanuel Molina's Friday preliminary hearing, which included testimony about guns and gangs, the scolding of an attorney, and a judge's up-close inspection of the suspect's tattoos.

Molina faces 15 criminal charges, ranging from attempted murder of the officer and being a felon in possession of a loaded firearm, to hit-and-run — which started the whole chain of events.

Around 7:30 a.m. on May 25, Fautt was dispatched to a solo-vehicle crash on Jahant Road west of Dustin Road, where a truck had hit a pole. The driver was gone, but witnesses told the CHP that the male driver had headed toward a nearby vineyard.

Fautt drove down a dirt road, circled around a dairy and came to a trailer where he saw a man — whom he identified in court as Molina — matching the driver's description. He testified that he asked the man if he lived there, and the man replied that he was visiting a cousin.

Fautt told the man he wanted to search him for weapons, then ordered him to turn around and put his hands on his head. The man turned around but kept his arms down with his hands out of view.

Fautt "bumped" Molina's upper arms, which he said was to get the man to follow directions and encourage him to lift his arms to his head. Instead, Fautt said he felt tension in Molina's arms, and felt him reaching for something.

The officer tried to pull Molina's arms up, which was when he saw a black pistol in the suspect's right hand, with his finger in the trigger.

"I went into panic mode, basically," Fautt testified. "He was turning his hand towards me as I was pulling him off balance. ... He had turned his pistol as far as it would go toward me and I was looking at the barrel."

Fautt demonstrated for Deputy District Attorney Roy Shannon, showing how he stood behind Molina and how the gun was pointing toward Molina's own head. Fautt said he could see the muscles moving in Molina's right arm as he tried to turn the gun further back toward the officer.

The officer yelled repeatedly at Molina to drop the gun, and after a little while Molina said, "I'm just trying to give it to you," Fautt testified. Fautt told Molina he didn't want it and again ordered him to drop the gun.

Molina then let go of the gun, which hung from the index finger that had been in the trigger. Fautt said he shook the gun out of Molina's hand, then swept the man's feet out from under him and took him to the ground.

Fautt sat on Molina, with a knee on each arm and his hand at the man's neck, using his other hand to radio for backup.

When Deputy Public Defender Athena Chase asked why he didn't handcuff Molina, he replied: "I didn't want to risk wrestling with him with a loaded firearm on the ground."

The defense attorney and officer sparred over countless questions, such as whether filed-down keys found in Molina's pocket could typically be used to steal cars — and whether Fautt's previous job as a certified auto mechanic gave him the expertise to know that.

At one point Judge Bob McNatt scolded Chase for repeatedly shaking her head when he overruled her objections. McNatt told her to "maintain your professionalism," that the head shaking was a distraction to witnesses, that he'd warned her before and that she could appeal his rulings.

Ultimately, the hearing lasted through much of Friday and had to be paused in the middle of testimony about Molina's alleged gang membership.

Molina had been booked into the San Joaquin County Jail four previous times, and each time he told jailers he was a Sureno gang member, Lodi Police Detective Paul Blandford testified.

McNatt personally moved from his bench to the defense table to inspect Molina's tattoos, which include "187," the criminal code for murder, on his left index finger, as well as a teardrop beneath his right eye and three dots on his left wrist, which Blandford said are typical gang-related tattoos.

Due to witness and attorney schedules, the hearing will not resume until Sept. 2. In the meantime, Molina remains jailed without bail.

On Friday he rejected a deal prosecutors offered that would have sent him to prison for 17 years.

Contact reporter Layla Bohm at layla@lodinews.com.

Reader Feedback

what22 wrote on Aug 12, 2009 12:54 AM:

" damn crackers always causing problems open the borders lets get some good people in here to do work instead of playing play station and doing crimes "

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DeputyChief wrote on Aug 10, 2009 11:52 PM:

" By the way when is Sheriff Moore going to provide the public with the full report that he promised in the article in this link, http://www.lodinews.com/articles/2009/05/09/news/2_letter_090509.txt

regarding the courtroom security issue involving the stabbing of a judge? "

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dogs4you wrote on Aug 9, 2009 11:56 AM:

" good point 007, I suppose you had to be there to make the call. Should the CHP officer waited for back-up rather than taking the suspect into custody by himself.

After the suspect showed he had a gun, the officer had every reason to use his. "

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007Jack wrote on Aug 9, 2009 12:16 AM:

" Not all Officers are issued Tazers. However, this is not a situation where the Tazer would have been used.....The suspect had a pistol! He is lucky that Ofc. Fautt did not simply shoot him once he saw the gun! "

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dogs4you wrote on Aug 8, 2009 12:44 PM:

" All law enforcement personal have Tazer`s, it is up to the individual officer when and not to taze. In officer Fautt`s situation, I would wonder why his tazer was not employed. To risk injury when a tazer can render a person harmless is a question I would ask. Not for a moment would I question Officer Tautt`s tactics, but to let a person of Molina`s non ability to not obey orders, that tazer is a law enforcement best friend, other than a dog.

As with any one that would try to get a guilty person off, the deputy district attorney made a fool of herself by asking question that were ment to embarrass the CHP officer. Glad he was able to maneuver through her smoke screen. Well done Officer Frutt. "

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Journey wrote on Aug 8, 2009 8:59 AM:

" "...Fautt sat on Molina, with a knee on each arm and his hand at the man's neck, using his other hand to radio for backup." At that point in time, this is where I would have lost control, pulled my gun, and shot the creep! I would have made an awful cop! :) Good job, Fautt. "

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jbhiker wrote on Aug 8, 2009 8:05 AM:

" This stuff sure makes me feel safe in Lodi. "

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T & C wrote on Aug 8, 2009 6:52 AM:

" Please Lock him up and misplace the key! Law Enforcement officers everywhere NEVER know if they are going to finish their shift! "

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