Jury finds Chico man guilty of domestic violence, fighting with police
OROVILLE » A Butte County jury found a Chico man guilty Thursday of three charges stemming from a domestic violence call in May that escalated when the man fought several Chico Police Department officers who responded to the call.
Carlos Alfredo Jamquintero, 45, was found guilty of felony assault, domestic violence and violently resisting arrest, the Butte County District Attorney’s Office said in a press release. Following the trial that took place over several days this week, the jury quickly returned a guilty verdict on all three counts Thursday afternoon.
Butte County District
Attorney Mike Ramsey said Chico police dispatchers received several 9-1-1 calls in May froma friend of Jamquintero’s wife, who texted the friend saying she needed“immediate assistance .” The wife was then able to call 9-1-1 herself, telling dispatchers she and her two small children were barricaded in a room of their house to get away from her husband, Jamquintero, who was “terrorizing” her, according to the release.
Officers would later learn during their investigation that Jamquintero had been in an argument with his wife several days earlier. During the argument, Jamquintero strangled her nearly to the point of unconsciousness, which Ramsey said was the basis for the felony assault charge.
After dispatchers received the 9-1-1 calls, officers arrived at the address and entered the home after the wife was able to signal to the officers through a window of the room she and her children were barricaded in.
Two of ficers entered their home and attempted to detain Jamquintero, but he fought back, pulling the officers onto a bed and refused to show his hands or stop fighting. Despite several Taser attempts from the two officers, they were unable to gain control of Jamquintero.
The fighting continued for several minutes, until additional responding officers helped to control Jamquintero and take him into custody. The wife and small children were also freed from the barricaded room.
Ramsey said during the trial this week, the wife testified Jamquintero did not abuse her, which contradicted earlier statements she gave to police and her friend. However, prosecutors presented evidence to the jury that Jamquintero called his wife from the Butte County Jail more than 100 times to influence her testimony, despite a restraining order in place requiring Jamquintero not to contact his wife.
Ramsey said Jamquintero made the cal ls through third-party phone numbers attempting to conceal the fact that he was violating the restraining order.
Additionally, Ramsey said Jamquintero was previously convicted of several strikes under California’s Three- Strikes law. The convictions included assault with a deadly weapon, grand theft firearm and attempted carjacking.
Jamquintero faces up to 10 years and eight months in state prison. He will be sentenced in November. He remains in custody at the Butte County Jail without bail.