Off-duty Sonoma County deputy fires gun in Hopland incident

An off-duty Sonoma County sheriff’s deputy who came to the aid of a CHP officer in Hopland was under investigation after firing a gun during the encounter.

No one was hit by the single shot fired Wednesday by the off-duty deputy, Capt. Greg Van Patten said. Mendocino County policy calls for an investigation by a neighboring agency when a weapon is fired, even when no one is injured or killed, Van Patten said.

Sonoma County sheriff’s officials identified the deputy as Erik Baarts, 42, who was hired in 2013 from the Ukiah Police Department.

The incident began just before 5 p.m. Wednesday on Highway 101 north of Hopland.

CHP Officer Kiuya Brown tried to stop a speeding car heading south, but the vehicle initially didn’t stop and drove recklessly, at moments crossing into oncoming traffic, according to the CHP’s Ukiah-area spokesman, Officer Kylar Adams.

The vehicle eventually pulled over at the former Hopland Superette near the intersection with Highway 175. Brown approached the passenger side window, holding his handgun “pointed down, at ‘low-ready,’ ” Adams said.

The car held two passengers and the driver, later identified as Dustin John Whitney, 33, of Petaluma, Adams said.

“The driver was the only one failing to follow commands. He kept trying to reach for something in the center console,” Adams said. “At one point the driver put the keys back in the ignition and tried to start the vehicle.”

Brown reached in and tried to grab the keys, and there was a brief struggle, Adams said. The officer holstered the gun, grabbed his duty stun gun and deployed a charge at Whitney, Adams said.

At some point during the encounter at the Superette, an off-duty Sonoma County sheriff’s deputy saw the CHP officer holding Whitney and the others at gunpoint and stopped to assist, Van Patten said. The off-duty deputy fired a gun once, but no one was hit or injured, Van Patten said. Van Patten and Adams said they didn’t yet know precisely when the weapon was fired in the sequence of events.

Whitney then drove away, heading south, and the CHP officer followed in pursuit, Adams said.

Whitney pulled over about 5 miles south near the Rock Shop novelty store near the Pieta Creek bridge, Adams said. Whitney got out of the car and ran, crossing the highway and heading east up a hill, Adams said.

A CHP helicopter was called to the area to help officers and Mendocino County sheriff’s deputies find Whitney, who was apprehended after about an hour, Adams said.

Whitney was being held in lieu of $35,000 bail at the Mendocino County Jail on suspicion of recklessly evading arrest, resisting and threatening police, violating probation and possession of hypodermic needles, records show. Jail records say Whitney lives in San Rafael.

Sonoma County Sheriff’s Lt. Carlos Basurto said that Baarts remained on active duty as a patrol deputy because no one was hurt in the incident.

Sonoma County’s policy regarding shootings differs from that in Mendocino County. In Sonoma County, the countywide protocol that calls for another law enforcement agency to investigate the shooting takes place only when a person is injured. An internal review takes place when deputies discharge their weapons and no one is hurt, Basurto said.

You can reach Staff Writer Julie Johnson at 521-5220 or julie.johnson@pressdemocrat.com. On Twitter @jjpressdem.