A man scheduled to be sentenced for driving his car at four off-duty San Diego County Sheriff's Department deputies is now in ICE custody, awaiting deportation, officials confirmed to NBC 7.
Jose Alejandro Blanco Quinones, 32, was shot at least twice on Sunday, March 27, 2016 at 2 a.m. in front of the nearby 7-11 store in the 1500 block of East Vista Way after he backed his car into deputies.
An off-duty deputy opened fire outside the 7-Eleven.
Jason Phillips with the department’s Special Investigations Division was identified as the deputy that opened fire. Sgt. Alejandro Navarro, Deputy Anthony Garcia and Deputy Zheath Sanchez were identified as the three other deputies involved in the incident.
The deputies, who were not uniform, were in a nearby shopping center and walked over to attempt to deescalate the situation, SDSO Lt. Kenneth Nelson said at the time. Blanco put his car in reverse and struck them, officials said.
Phillips fired five shots at the car to stop the threat.
Officials did not confirm whether the deputies were administered sobriety tests immediately after the shooting.
San Diego County District Attorney Bonnie Dumanis said she was not aware if a sobriety test was administered to the off-duty deputies. She referred NBC 7's question to the San Diego County Sheriff's Department.
When asked if that would be taken into consideration by the DA’s investigators when determining if procedures were followed, she said, “I think looking at the circumstances of the crime it’s clear they were acting appropriately at the time."
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The DA ruled the shooting justified on Friday.
Blanco, who is not a U.S. citizen, pleaded guilty to assault with a deadly weapon and to two counts of assault by means of force likely to produce great bodily injury. Blanco’s blood alcohol content was .05.
Blanco was scheduled to be sentenced on Tuesday in the incident, but authorities confirmed to NBC 7 that Blanco is in ICE custody, awaiting deportation.
An arrest warrant has since been issued for Blanco so he can be brought back into court, DA spokesman Steve Walker said.
