Tobin James winemaker accused of shooting neighbor’s tires in long-running feud
Renowned Paso Robles winemaker Tobin James Shumrick is facing felony charges following an incident in October where he allegedly shot at the tires of a neighbor’s golf cart amid a longstanding feud between the two men.
Shumrick, founder of Tobin James Cellars, has pleaded not guilty to felony charges of shooting at an occupied motor vehicle and vandalism, as well as a misdemeanor charge of hit-and-run driving.
He is scheduled to be in court for a preliminary hearing Feb. 27, when a Superior Court judge will hear testimony and determine whether probable cause exists to proceed the case toward trial.
Reached by phone Monday, Shumrick’s defense attorney, Jere Sullivan, declined to comment but referred a reporter to a Jan. 30 San Luis Obispo New Times article about the case.
Sullivan told New Times that the incident was justifiable self-defense, after the alleged victim in the criminal case, 41-year-old Gabriel Canaday, had repeatedly trespassed on the Tobin James Cellars property on Union Road and harassed employees and patrons there.
“The winery was the victim,” Sullivan told New Times.
Sheriff’s Office spokesman Tony Cipolla confirmed that on Oct. 3, 2019, sheriff’s deputies responded to a report of vandalism at the property in the 8900 block of Union Road. Cipolla wrote in an email Monday that when deputies arrived, they noticed damage to the passenger side rear corner of a pickup truck.
The owner of the truck, Canaday, claimed Shumrick was responsible for the damage, and also told deputies that the day prior, Shumrick “had shot the tires of his golf cart with a shotgun while he was driving it at the winery.”
Canaday, who lives on a property across the street from the winery, was not injured in the incident.
Deputies then interviewed Shumrick, who claimed Canaday has been trespassing on his winery property, resulting in numerous calls for service to the Sheriff’s Office over the past few months, Cipolla wrote. Shumrick reportedly told deputies he was attempting to disable the golf cart.
Shumrick was released from custody after posting $250,000 bail.
According to the Sheriff’s Office, the agency has received approximately 43 calls for service, including calls where both Canaday and employees of the winery were the reporting party over the past two years.
Court records show that Canaday has a long history of violating restraining orders and failing to appear in court. Cipolla said that Canaday’s been arrested 18 times since April; 16 of those arrests were for outstanding warrants.
Following the alleged shooting incident, a Superior Court judge granted Tobin James Cellars’ request for a restraining order against Canaday on behalf of Shumrick and employees of the winery.
According to the restraining order request, Canaday “has repeatedly entered onto the workplace, behaving erratically and appearing agitated.”
“He has driven recklessly through the workplace and used his own vehicle to trap employees in the parking lot of the workplace,” the restraining order request reads. “(Canaday) has expressed that he hears voices of his wife and children on the property, and apparently believes the property is being used as staging ground in a conspiracy against him.”
That retraining order expires in 2022.
