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Juan Luis Olvera Preciado

Age : 59

Gender : Male

Race : Latino/a/e

Date : 08/21/2021

Location : 100 block of Obispo Street, near Birch Street

City : Guadalupe

County : Santa Barbara

State : California

Agency : Guadalupe Police Department

Officer(s) :Officer Miguel Jaimes

Cause of Death : Gunshot

Event : Bystander killed by police gunfire

OPEN RECORDS SUMMARY :

On 08/21/2021, Guadalupe Police Department Officer Miguel Jaimes killed 59-year-old Juan Luis Olvera-Preciado, an uninvolved bystander, while firing at another man near Birch and Obispo streets. Olvera-Preciado was sitting in his vehicle in his own driveway in the 100 block of Obispo Street, waiting for his wife so the couple could go out for a late dinner.
The California Department of Justice later produced a detailed reconstruction that substantially expanded the information available immediately after the killing. Shortly before the shooting, Guadalupe officers were investigating a small fire and encountered a man whom they knew had two outstanding arrest warrants. The man ran from officers. Jaimes and Officer Christopher Orozco pursued him on foot.
During the pursuit, police repeatedly ordered the man to stop and show his hands. According to the DOJ investigation, the man removed his right hand from the pocket of his sweatshirt and extended his arm. Jaimes believed he was pointing a firearm. Orozco also told investigators he thought the man was about to shoot either him or Jaimes. Jaimes fired three rounds. Orozco did not fire.
The man Jaimes fired at was not carrying a gun. Investigators recovered a small black butane torch at the scene. All three of Jaimes's rounds missed him.
One of Jaimes's bullets struck the pavement, ricocheted and traveled approximately 174 feet down Obispo Street. The bullet entered through the slightly open door of Olvera-Preciado's vehicle and struck him in the head. Olvera-Preciado had no involvement whatsoever in the police encounter.
The circumstances immediately before his death were reconstructed through an interview with his wife, Silvia. The couple had been married for nearly 40 years. At about 9:30 p.m., they decided to go out for a late dinner. Because it was cold, Silvia went back into the house to get a sweater while her husband waited in their vehicle. She heard several loud bangs and police yelling outside. When she returned, she saw the vehicle door partly open and her husband motionless. At first she thought he was joking with her, then saw blood on his face and shirt and called 911.
The DOJ investigation determined that the area was extremely dark and that Olvera-Preciado's driveway was not visible to the officers from where they fired. That finding became part of the state's justification for declining criminal charges, but the investigation also exposed shortcomings in Guadalupe Police Department practices surrounding the shooting.
On 01/03/2023, the California Department of Justice announced that it would not prosecute Jaimes. Investigators concluded there was substantial evidence that Jaimes believed the fleeing man posed an immediate armed threat to him and Orozco and determined that his three shots constituted lawful self-defense and defense of another. Under California's transferred-intent doctrine, the DOJ concluded that because Jaimes's shooting at the intended target was legally justified, there was insufficient evidence to prosecute him criminally for unintentionally killing Olvera-Preciado.
The DOJ nevertheless issued a series of recommendations to the Guadalupe Police Department directly arising from its investigation. The state recommended requiring body cameras during investigative stops; preventing officers involved in or witnessing shootings from discussing the incident with each other before investigators interview them; updating use-of-force policies; requiring de-escalation and crisis-intervention techniques when feasible; and creating specific guidance on situational awareness to reduce the danger that police gunfire poses to innocent people in residential neighborhoods.
Olvera-Preciado's family strongly contested Jaimes's decision to fire. In May 2022, his widow and four children filed a federal civil-rights lawsuit against Jaimes, the City of Guadalupe and the Guadalupe Police Department. The lawsuit alleged that Jaimes panicked and fired unnecessarily toward an occupied residential area. The family emphasized that other officers present did not fire and alleged that there was no reasonable basis to shoot when doing so placed nearby residents at risk.
The civil case produced a substantial financial resolution. In 2023, the City of Guadalupe and Olvera-Preciado's family reached a $4 million settlement. The settlement was approved by the California Joint Powers Insurance Authority after private mediation.
A second lawsuit was subsequently filed by Olvera-Preciado's brother on behalf of himself and their late father. That complaint alleged inadequate police training and argued that Jaimes should have recognized the danger of firing in a residential neighborhood. It specifically challenged the contention that darkness excused the shooting, alleging that nearby houses, streetlights and police vehicles provided illumination and that Jaimes knew people were nearby.
Olvera-Preciado had moved with his family to Guadalupe in 2001. He worked for Freitas Brothers Farms, where he was responsible for irrigation. He and Silvia were approaching their 40th wedding anniversary when he was killed. They had four children and six grandchildren, with another grandchild expected at the time. His children described a father who taught them to work, routinely helped them when they needed him and centered much of his life around his family.
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OFFICER BACKGROUND:
Miguel Jaimes joined the Guadalupe Police Department in January 2020, approximately 19 months before he killed Olvera-Preciado.The most significant subsequent scrutiny of Jaimes's conduct remains the Olvera-Preciado case itself: three rounds fired at a man who ultimately proved to be unarmed, all three rounds missing their intended target, one traveling approximately 174 feet after ricocheting and killing an uninvolved man sitting in his driveway. The resulting investigation prompted statewide investigators to recommend changes specifically addressing Guadalupe officers' situational awareness and the danger police gunfire poses to bystanders.

SOURCE LINKS :

https://oag.ca.gov/news/press-releases/california-department-justice-releases-report-death-juan-luis-olvera-preciado
https://oag.ca.gov/system/files/ois/report/2023_01_OlveraPreciado_AB1506_Report.pdf
https://www.ksby.com/news/local-news/guadalupe-police-officer-wont-be-charged-for-killing-bystander
https://www.noozhawk.com/family_of_man_killed_by_guadalupe_police_files_federal_lawsuit/
https://www.sanluisobispo.com/news/local/article276039911.html
https://www.aol.com/news/family-central-coast-man-killed-182615568.html
https://www.ksby.com/news/local-news/second-lawsuit-filed-against-city-of-guadalupe-in-accidental-shooting-of-juan-olvera-preciado
https://www.ksby.com/news/local-news/he-was-the-happiness-in-my-home-family-remembers-innocent-guadalupe-man-killed-in-officer-involved-shooting
https://keyt.com/news/santa-maria-north-county/2021/08/27/guadalupe-officer-who-shot-bystander-identified-in-court-documents/
https://keyt.com/news/santa-maria-north-county/2023/01/06/states-justice-department-clears-guadalupe-police-officer-of-criminal-charges-in-2021-fatal-police-shooting/