Charges reduced against Paso Robles winery owner accused of shooting at neighbor
Renowned Paso Robles winemaker Tobin James Shumrick is no longer facing felony charges for allegedly firing a shotgun at a neighbor riding a golf cart following months of the neighbor trespassing on his winery and scaring his staff.
Prior to his San Luis Obispo Superior Court preliminary hearing Thursday, Shumrick, the owner of Tobin James Winery in Paso Robles, was facing two felony charges of discharging a firearm at an inhabited vehicle and vandalism, as well as a misdemeanor charge of hit and run causing property damage.
After hearing testimony from the alleged victim and others involved in the case Thursday, Superior Court Judge Jesse Marino held Shumrick to answer on all three charges, but reduced the two felonies to misdemeanors and ordered the county District Attorney’s Office to amend their criminal complaint.
Shumrick, 62, will re-enter pleas of not guilty to those charges at his trial setting conference July 15, his attorney, Patrick Fisher, said Friday.
The alleged victim, Gabriel Canaday, has a well-documented history of violating restraining orders as well as erratic, at-times threatening behavior.
At the time of the alleged shooting in the Tobin James parking lot in October 2019, Canaday had a restraining order approved prohibiting him from coming on the property following at least seven months of tension between him and Shumrick.
No one was hurt in the incident, though two tires on Canaday’s golf cart were damaged.
“We believe that (Shumrick’s) actions were completely justified not only because of the danger to himself, but the danger that (Canaday) posed to others at the winery,” Fisher said. “(Marino’s ruling) is certainly a step in the right direction, but the work here is obviously not done.”
Tensions arise between Paso Robles neighbors
Testimony was given Thursday by San Luis Obispo County Sheriff’s Office deputy Brent Dugan. He said that on Oct. 3, 2019, he responded to a report of vandalism at Canaday’s property, which was across the street from the winery.
Dugan testified that when he arrived, he noticed damaged to the passenger side rear corner of Canaday’s pickup truck.
Canaday claimed that Shumrick was responsible before telling Dugan about an incident the day prior in which Shumrick took a shot at him when Canaday had driven his golf cart to the winery to talk with Shumrick.
Dugan interviewed Shumrick about the shooting and property damage, and he said Shumrick told him the shotgun was used “to disable the golf cart while he waited for sheriffs to arrive.” Shumrick told Dugan that he was about 10 feet away from the golf cart and no one but Canaday was in the line of fire.
Dugan recounted responding to the two properties “several times regarding tensions,” and on one occasion Shumrick told the deputy “he would like to fire a firearm at Mr. Canaday if this continues to happen.”
“I advised him not to do that unless he or someone else was in danger,” Dugan said.
The Sheriff’s Office previously said the agency had received approximately 43 calls for service, including calls where both Canaday and employees of the winery were the reporting parties, over the past two years.
Court records show that Canaday has a long history of violating restraining orders and failing to appear in court. Sheriff’s Office spokesman Tony Cipolla previously said that Canaday has been arrested 18 times since April; 16 of those arrests were for outstanding warrants.
A restraining order keeping Canaday from Tobin James Winery said that 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 says. “(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.”
Alleged shooting victim contradicts himself
Canaday also took the stand Thursday, contradicting himself and misstating documented facts and criminal history several times.
Canaday said that on Oct. 3, 2019, he was taking a nap when he heard a commotion outside and went out to see damage to his parked truck. He testified that he told Dugan of the shooting the prior day, when he said he was going there to “put things behind us” with Shumrick over their conflicts.
Canaday said he hadn’t yet been served with the restraining order at the time, or he would not have gone.
When Canaday rode up on his golf cart, he said, he spoke briefly to a male employee there before Shumrick “came around the corner of the winery with a shotgun, hollering that he didn’t want me to be there, and told me to leave.”
Canaday said he turned the cart around to leave when Shumrick fired the shot, hitting the back tire. Canaday was able to make it back to his property on the cart, which he said he later gave away. He said there were others in the parking lot at the time.
Under cross examination by Fisher, Canaday was confronted with evidence that he had roughly 100 different communications with Shumrick within several months over Canaday trespassing on the winery, confronting employees and guests about suspecting his ex-wife and child were there.
Canaday repeatedly accused others of having a sexual relationship with several individuals, Fisher indicated that evidence shows, though Canaday described that as “just a misunderstanding.”
“I really didn’t have a lot to go off of on that,” Canaday testified. “I went over there and was assured that wasn’t the case.”
Asked by Fisher if he had repeatedly trespassed at the winery, Canaday responded, “I guess, if it’s trespassing to be on their property.”
Later asked if he has a history of violating protective orders, he said, “I guess you could look at it that way.”
Before his ruling, Marino also took into consideration testimony from other winery employees and another individual who had a restraining order against Canaday.
Fisher told The Tribune that should the case go to trial, Shumrick looks forward to telling his side directly to jurors.
“The court saw that this alleged victim had been terrorizing these people for months, and my client’s business tried many times to get assistance from law enforcement,” he said.
