OAKLAND — Thirteen criminal charges have been filed against a 40-year-old man who exchanged gunfire with San Leandro police Feb. 16 who were seeking him for deliberately using his pickup track to ram a vehicle containing his three children, according to authorities and court records.
Reynaldo Melendezespinoz, of San Leandro, was charged Thursday with three counts of attempted murder of a peace officer, three counts of assault on a peace office with a semi-automatic firearm, three counts of child abuse, two counts of assault with a deadly weapon and one count each of felon in possession of a firearm and unlawful firearm activity, all felonies.
According to authorities and court records, an Alameda County sheriff’s deputy responding to a domestic violence call in unincorporated Hayward on Dec. 25, 2017, shot Melendezespinoz when he charged the deputy while wielding a machete.
Deputies had been called to a home after Melendezespinoz had allegedly assaulted a female relative. After recovering from the gunshot wound, he was subsequently prosecuted and in June 2019 was convicted of felony assault on a peace officer for which he was placed on probation, according to court records.
Melendezespinoz, who was not injured in the Feb. 16 shootout, is being held without bail at Santa Rita Jail and is scheduled to enter a plea March 3.
According to authorities and the documents, Melendezespinoz was supposed to pick up his three sons, ages 4, 6 and 9, from their mother in a Walmart store parking lot on Hesperian Boulevard about 8:30 p.m. Feb. 16. They were late which apparently enraged Melendezespinoz, and the mother, who was with another adult, decided to leave without doing the exchange.
According to the documents, as they were driving away, Melendezespinoz sped in front of their vehicle with his pickup truck, blocking their way and causing them to back up. Melendezespinoz then used his truck to ram their vehicle before driving off, the documents say. No one in the vehicle was physically injured but the adults believed he “intended to harm and kill them,” the documents say.
San Leandro police responded to the scene and began seeking Melendezespinoz.
San Leandro police spotted him inside his truck and stopped him near the intersection of 164th Avenue and East 14th Street in the Ashland area.
According to the documents, Melendezespinoz got out of the truck and started walking toward the three police officers on the scene, identified in court documents as Blake Staniford, Quinton May and Austin Lovel. He then pulled a pistol from his waistband and a shootout ensued, the documents say
The uninjured Melendezespinoz eventually dropped his gun and was taken into custody with less lethal munitions, the documents say. No officers were injured.
Melendezespinoz later told Alameda County Sheriff’s Office investigators, who are investigating the shooting because it was in their jurisdiction, that he pointed his gun at the officers “in an effort to cause them to shoot him” and that he also admitted firing at the officers.
