Standoff ends with shooting suspect disappearing from Paso Robles motel
After Sheriff’s Office officials spent much of the day Friday urging an attempted murder suspect to come out of a Motel 6 in Paso Robles, a law enforcement robot sent into the room in mid-afternoon discovered that the man had fled.
Sheriff’s spokesman Tony Cipolla said investigators believe suspect Richard Anthony Rodriguez of Nipomo may have gotten away in the 45 minutes that elapsed between the time Paso Robles police arrived at 3:17 a.m. and when sheriff’s deputies came to the scene about 4 a.m.
Paso Robles police found Rodriguez’s 1997 GMC Yukon parked outside the motel on Black Oak Road and alerted the Sheriff’s Office of the situation about 3:17 a.m. Paso Robles officers positively identified Rodriguez, 30, in the room, Cipolla said. He did not know how the officers identified Rodriguez.
When sheriff’s deputies arrived about 4 a.m., they cordoned off the Motel 6 and closed Black Oak Road to traffic. A SWAT team also went to the scene, and authorities used a loudspeaker over the course of the day to urge Rodriguez to come out. Finally, in midafternoon, officials broke down the door and sent in the robot equipped with a camera, Cipolla said.
“We couldn’t contact him by phone or other measures,” Cipolla said. “So we breached the door and sent in a motorized robot to search the room and the adjoining bathroom. Nobody was there.”
Officers have no idea how Rodriguez slipped away.
Authorities had been looking for Rodriguez since Wednesday, when he allegedly fired a shot at his ex-girlfriend allegedly fired a shot at his ex-girlfriend after pulling up alongside her car on a Nipomo street. She wasn’t hurt, and Rodriguez fled, driving south on Highway 101 toward Santa Maria, Cipolla said. It was early Friday when his car was seen again, this time in the Motel 6 parking lot in Paso Robles.
Cipolla said authorities believe Rodriguez to be armed and dangerous and urge the public to contact them if they have information on his location.
“We’re asking the public, if they do come into contact with him, not to engage with him, but to let us know the location,” Cipolla said. “We are receiving numerous tips from the public that he is still in the area and we are checking on those leads as we speak. We are asking for the public’s help.”
Anyone with information is asked to call Crime Stoppers at 549-STOP.
Be on the lookout
Richard Anthony Rodriguez is described as a 30-year-old Hispanic male with black hair and brown eyes, standing 5 feet, 9 inches tall and weighing 205 pounds. He is considered armed and dangerous, authorities say.
This story was originally published February 19, 2016 at 12:18 PM with the headline "Standoff ends with shooting suspect disappearing from Paso Robles motel."