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East County News Service
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February 14, 2022 (Valley Center) – David Salas, Jr. of Valley Center is charged with assaulting Sheriff’s deputies with a deadly weapon after he rammed his Dodge Ram pickup truck into multiple patrol vehicles and dragged one officer.
Salas had attended a Super Bowl watch party Sunday in Valley Center with his son, 15, when he became “heavily intoxicated” and engaged in a verbal and physical altercation with other party-goers, according to Lieutenant Jim Emig with the Valley Center Sheriff’s substation.
Witnesses to the fight, which occurred in the 14000 block of Rancho Copa, called 911. Several people tried to hold Salas down while deputies responded. But he reportedly broke free and ran to his pickup truck. As he was driving away, he collided with another vehicle on the property but fled without stopping, Lt. Emig says.
Responding deputies tried to stop the vehicle, but Salas refused to pull over and a pursuit ensued. During the chase, he stopped the vehicle several times but did not comply with deputies’ orders.
Twice, he “backed his vehicle into occupied sheriff's patrol vehicles, rendering them inoperable,” Lt. Emig says.
The Sheriff’s Special Enforcement Detail, or SWAT team, arrived to assist. They established phone communication and deputies used de-escalation techniques that eventually persuaded Salas to surrender.
However, after Salas and his son exited the vehicle as deputies had commanded, with their hands up, Salas turned around and headed back towards his truck.
Fearing that Salas would use his vehicle to assault deputies again, deputies ran after him and attempted to pull Salas from the vehicle as he climbed into the driver's seat. According to Lt. Emig, Salas “was able to accelerate the vehicle forward into a ditch, partially dragging a deputy in the process.”
Fortunately, the deputy was uninjured and Salas was arrested. Both Salas and his son were taken by ambulance to a hospital and treated for minor injuries.
What began as a night of sports revelry ended in Salas being charged with an extensive list of felonies, which include multiple counts of assault with a deadly weapon on a peace officer. His bail has been set at a million dollars.
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