Sex Offender, Armed Suspect in Escondido Home Prompts SWAT

Law enforcement officers surrounded a home near downtown Escondido Wednesday morning where a man was spotted carrying a rifle.

Escondido Police originally responded to a home at 6th Avenue and the 500 block of South Spruce Street around 9:20 a.m. after receiving a call from members of Sexual Assault Felony Enforcement (SAFE) Task Force about Miguel Angel Juarez, 37, a convicted sex offender who may have been wanted for failing to update his sex registrant status.

Authorities believed Juarez was inside the Escondido home.

Authorities said members of SAFE also reported seeing a man – now identified as 19-year-old David Betancort – enter the residence carrying an assault rifle.

Police tried for hours to get the occupants of the home to come out, but their attempts were unsuccessful.

A short time later, officials said two men came out of the house and walked onto the porch, where they were given directions by officers.

Betancort, the suspect who walked into the house with the weapon, later determined to be an air rifle, tried to flee the scene on foot but was apprehended by officers. He was arrested and charged with violation of a court order.

A second man was detained on the porch without incident and later released, police said.

The two men were questioned which led police to determine that two other subjects were still inside the home. Police attempted to make contact with the additional occupants, but they failed to respond.

Because Escondido police believed a rifle was inside the home, SWAT was called in to help surround the home.

At around 1:30 p.m., officers used loudspeakers to broadcast messages to the remaining occupants of the house to come outside.

One of the subjects, now identified as 24-year-old Christopher David Sarenana, complied and was taken into custody without incident. Police said he was later charged with violating his probation.

The second suspect, believed to be Juarez, did not respond to the officers’ request for surrender.

That’s when SWAT officers deployed a flash bang to coax Juarez out. He exited the home and was arrested, bringing the standoff to an end.

Police said Juarez was charged with two misdemeanor warrants and failure to register as a sex offender.

Juarez, Betancort and Sarenana were all booked into the Vista Detention Facility.

Several hours later, officers obtained a search warrant and went inside the home where they found one disassembled handgun missing several pieces, various air soft guns and a small amount of methamphetamine.

Police said Juarez was out of compliance in regards to updating his registration when Escondido police conducted house checks on Sept. 29. Since then, members of SAFE had been checking possible locations for his whereabouts.

During the standoff and search of the home officers blocked off traffic to the surrounding area, including roads east of Interstate 15 and south of Valley Parkway.

NBC 7's news crew on the scene said the home was surrounded by heavy police activity, even after the suspects were taken into custody. Eventually, authorities said the home was cleared.

Contact Us