Dillon Carmelo has problems. The Redding, California parolee was observed acting erratically this week and Johnny Law was called. When he made a motion as if to reach for a gun . . .
that’s when Shasta County deputies drew down on him. And that’s when he took a powder.
How does an ankle bracelet-wearing parolee who motions toward what deputies think is a firearm escape with guns pointed in his direction? No clue. But if the reporting is at all accurate, it seems Carmello may have had a death wish.
Carmelo ran off in a south westerly direction toward East Niles Lane. A records check revealed Carmelo was on parole for a weapons charge and is a 290 registrant (sex offender) who was wearing a GPS device issued by the parole department. Through this device they determined he was on East Niles Lane.
Pursuing deputies spotted Dillon Carmelo running through backyards and fields. He continued to refuse officers’ commands to stop.
Carmelo continued to act as if he was reaching for a handgun and at times would point his cell phone at deputies as if it was a handgun.
Whatever his motivation, he made the mistake of jumping Jennifer Doolittle’s back fence.
During the foot pursuit the Shasta County Sheriff’s Office had placed out a call to local residences in the area advising residents that officers were in foot pursuit with Dillon Carmelo and he was considered armed and dangerous and on parole.
Jennifer Doolittle received the reverse 911 call, and had armed herself with a handgun. She went out her back door to retrieve her dogs to lock them inside when she saw Dillon Carmelo jumping over her fence.
Doolittle told deputies he advanced on her and again acted as if he was reaching for a handgun. She said she feared for her life fired several shots at Carmelo striking him once in the ankle.
Ah, the benefits of home carry. Carmelo is now in custody. Ms. Doolittle is waiting to see if she’s in the clear.
The Shasta County Sheriff’s Office said citizens have every right to protect their person(s) and family but must still abide by the law. In this case the homeowner fired in the direction of the suspect but did not realize pursuing deputies were just behind Dillon Carmelo, surrounding him in an attempt to take him into custody. No deputies were injured during the shooting and no deputies fired their weapons.
In other words, it isn’t a crime for deputies to shoot past a fleeing perp and ventilate a citizen or two, but if a citizen shoots at an attacking perp, not shooting deputies that she doesn’t even know are there, it might be a crime?
@FedUp, sounds about right :/
If they charge her the whole department should be fired.
it’s CA, can’t have law abiding citizens owning guns, that would be wrong… just the criminals, politicians, and the police are trained for it(and by trained, I mean to fire 17 times, hit 3 cars, 2 civilians, 1 dog, and miss the bad guy completely)
Ding!!
She should have gone back inside and said nothing. She broke one of the important rules after a defensive gun use and that is to shut one’s mouth until you have legal counsel representing you. Instead it was blab blab blab and a potential lawsuit from the perp contriving a story that she shot him after he had surrendered. KEEP ONE’s MOUTH SHUT after an event like this one.
Go ahead and charge me. I’ll write a nice note apologizing to the perp.
That will make the prosecutor’s job of trying to put you behind bars like a cakewalk.
Glad the good gal stopped him, and sorry that she had to. Home carry people.
The reverse 911 call should tell homeowners that violent, entitled dog-killers are on the loose.
In that case our phones would never stop ringing.
Shasta County is a “may issue” concealed carry county where “self-defense”=”good cause” and is very pro-gun. Well over 5000 CCWs have been issued by the Sheriff. Citizens who protect themselves are usually applauded. And whether or not the deputies were down range does not change a DGU into a crime. Since both she and the deputies said that it looked like he was going for a gun, clearly she had justification for shooting. Plus she was on her own property and (apparently) lawfully armed. The odds of her being charged with a crime are slim to none. And hopefully she’ll get some shooting lessons (she fired three times, one hit on the ankle.)
There’s no mention in any of the articles about Carmelo being found with a gun. So, being that he’s a registered sex offender, I wonder what he was actually reaching for.
Sounds like he may have been trying to commit suicide by cop. If he kept stopping and pointing his cell phone at them as if it were a gun, and acting as if he were reaching for a gun as reported, that would be my guess.
If he wanted to get shot, all he had to do was make a “furtive movement.” That’s an instant death sentence — which might be appropriate for a guy convicted of forcible rape.
This is my rifle
This is my gun…
LOL, she fired several shots at him and hit him in the ankle? What, did she close her eyes and pull the trigger?
Time to schedule date at the range
Plus, I think she might need a shotgun with an open chock.
…and how well can you keep running with a round in the ankle?
Go ahead and snark; she shot, she hit, it stopped him. Perhaps she was deliberately shooting low to keep misses from going into neighbors’ houses. Perhaps she’s a bad shot. Regardless, result.
Do you know the exact circumstances of the shooting? There could’ve been a thousand variables in play. Results are results.
“Took a powder”?
Never heard that before…
http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/take_a_powder
Glad she got him…practice.practice,practice…
She was right to bring in her dogs… There were police in the area.
“She was right to bring in her dogs… There were police in the area.”
Preach it!
Too bad she wasn’t a better shot.
Sounds like the Perp might be mentally ill. Pointing his cell phone and acting like it is a gun is not normal behavior. Perhaps he thought it was a gun and the demons or some other imaginary threat was after him. Would be a good idea to evaluate him and see if he is on meds or needs to be.
“She was right to bring in her dogs… There were police in the area.”
Now I need to buy another coffee, and clean the contents of my previous cup off of my screen.
Hey, you guys cut the lady some slack. She hit the perp and didn’t hit the cops. What am I bet that if the situation was somewhat reversed and it was the cops that fired, the perp would be unscathed and Ms. Doolittle and /or her dogs would be carrying some excess lead weight internally?
Not much question of that.
Our deputies and city police are usually pretty good shots and practice often. They have a range just on the edge of town (actually its been there for years, but the town grew out to meet it–and now some people are trying to shut it down for “safety” reasons.). I can’t recall a single instance in the last three decades where a bystander has been shot (although there was one incident where there were three flyers out of 35 rounds fired), and there have been plenty of times where they could have shot and chose not to. For a large mostly rural county with understaffed departments, a large homeless population, and issues with methamphetamine, drug labs, and marijuana cultivation, these guys do a pretty solid job. I don’t even remember any dog shootings, which is surprising given the huge numbers of pit bulls around here.
The Shasta County Sheriff’s Office said citizens have every right to protect their person(s) and family but must still abide by the law. In this case the homeowner fired in the direction of the suspect but did not realize pursuing deputies were just behind Dillon Carmelo, surrounding him in an attempt to take him into custody.
Obviously the homeowner must be arrested for endangering the high speed low drag military police officers. Since the man fleeing did not have the benefits of white privilege and looks like the Dear leader’s Son, all charges against him will be dropped so he can exercise his rights in Maryland.
No, the charges will not be dropped, but because of prison realignment (i.e., the emptying of overcrowded state prisons with convicts being sent to county jails), lack of state or local funding, lack of staffing, and overcrowding of the county jail, this guy will likely be released from jail a day after he is released from the hospital. A huge issue in our community is the revolving door at the county jail and the recidivism of many of the offenders, most of whom are charged with drug offenses and/or burglary.
Mrs. D was obviously trying to help the felon’s flight by removing the ankle transmitter by the lead wrench method, enabling faster evasion of John Law …….. NOT! No mention of the breed of dogs she had to bring in. Imagine the guy jumping into a yard of landsharks like Malinois, Dobermans, etc!!! Snack time.
Clearly her role was that of hostage and she mucked up the script. As for her shots, center of mass next time and the county will be better off for it.
Seems RF has been successful in programming “pavlovs dogs” on ttag. No cops fired any rounds and nobody but the perp was hurt and we have some of our great minds here, derpa, derpa….cops shooting dogs.
several shots … ankle …
One might say she sucks. One might also say that even though she sucks, she’s still better than the cops…
This was such big news it didn’t even make the local paper, only local news TV. In any event, update per KRCR News:
“Investigators said the woman who shot him, Jennifer Doolittle, 40 of Redding, was acting in self defense.”
End of Story.
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