Domestic violence suspect who fought with fallen deputy appears in court; DA holds off on manslaughter charge
- Elizabeth Larson
- Posted On
LAKEPORT, Calif. – A domestic violence suspect who fought with deputies shortly before one of them died earlier this week has made an initial court appearance, with the district attorney indicating he’s holding off on manslaughter and other charges related to the death pending the deputy’s autopsy results.
Alex Michael Castillo, 21, of Nice was arraigned in Lake County Superior Court on Thursday morning, according to District Attorney Don Anderson.
Castillo was taken into custody on Tuesday night in Lakeport after he fought with Lake County Sheriff’s Deputy Rob Rumfelt and Deputy Nate Newton, who had responded to the 900 block of Boggs Lane to back up Lakeport Police Sgt. Joe Eastham on a report of several subjects fighting.
Anderson said Castillo had assaulted his wife and mother-in-law during the incident, and was leaving the area covered with blood that investigators believe may have been his wife’s.
A short time later, after the deputies arrested Castillo, Rumfelt was leaving in his Ford SUV patrol vehicle when he crashed into a tree on Hartley Street north of 20th Street. Rumfelt was declared dead at Sutter Lakeside Hospital later that night.
Anderson had told Lake County News earlier this week that he intended to charge Castillo with voluntary manslaughter in connection to Rumfelt’s death.
However, by the time of Castillo’s appearance before Judge Michael Lunas on Thursday, that charge hadn’t been filed, according to Anderson.
Instead, the charges against Castillo at that point in included domestic violence, two counts of resisting arrest, a number of probation violations and resisting an officer resulting in death, Anderson said.
On Thursday, the same day Castillo was in court, an autopsy was performed on Rumfelt’s body in Napa County, with a procession bringing him home later in the day, as Lake County News has reported.
While on Friday Anderson had some preliminary results from Rumfelt’s autopsy, he said his office would await the full results in order to make a final charging decision.
As such, Anderson told Lake County News on Friday that his office isn’t currently alleging that Castillo was the cause of Rumfelt’s death, and that he’s not going to pursue the charges of voluntary manslaughter or resisting an officer leading to death against Castillo – at least not yet.
Anderson said the key to the case is to determine the cause of death for the 50-year-old Rumfelt, a veteran law enforcement officer who had served in the US Marines and was an assistant football coach at Clear Lake High School.
“That’s really a mystery right now,” Anderson said of Rumfelt’s death, with the preliminary autopsy results not shedding enough light on the matter.
Anderson said it may take as long as two to three months to have some certainty about the cause.
He said of the autopsy, “Until we get that, I don’t want to have someone in custody for those charges.”
At that time, Anderson said he could decide to refile the charge of resisting arrest leading to death and also could add the manslaughter charge.
Castillo is due to return to court on Tuesday, at which point his newly appointed defense attorney, Andrea Sullivan, will make her first appearance in the case, Anderson said.
Anderson said his office is filing an amended complaint against Castillo that will be heard on Tuesday. In that complaint, the charge of resisting an officer resulting in death will be dropped, while a count of child endangerment will be added.
Witnesses had reported to Lake County News that Castillo had been seen leaving the area of the Tuesday night fight with a child, a detail that hadn’t been noted in initial law enforcement accounts of the incident.
Anderson on Friday confirmed to Lake County News that Castillo was taking his young child with him as he was attempting to leave when the deputies caught up to him.
He said Castillo wouldn’t put the child down as he began to fight with Rumfelt and Newton, which resulted in the child endangerment charge.
Castillo remains in the Lake County Jail with bail set at $1.5 million, which Anderson said is for violating his probation for a previous domestic violence conviction.
Many other aspects of the investigation are still actively under way, Anderson said.
Anderson said Rumfelt’s patrol vehicle – which sustained major front-end damage in the crash – remains in secure storage pending an examination.
He said he hasn’t yet decided whether the California Highway Patrol’s Multidisciplinary Accident Investigation Team will be asked to look at the vehicle or if it will be done by one of his investigators in-house.
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