GREENFIELD — Greenfield resident Paulo Cesar Alcaraz Ortiz, 27, has been sentenced to 30 years and eight months-to-life in prison after being convicted of first-degree murder for intentionally running over Guadalupe Garcia.
On Nov. 16, 2021, Ortiz was in a car stolen from a friend’s parent. A police officer tried to contact him, but he refused to obey the officer’s orders and began a high-speed flight from arrest.
On several occasions Ortiz attempted to strike pedestrians with his car and missed. At one point, he rammed a police car to avoid capture. Finally, he targeted Garcia with an intent to kill him. He missed on his first try but followed Garcia, who fled through a field, and drove over him, killing him.
Police vehicles, including Soledad Police Chief Damon Wasson, then rammed Ortiz and dragged him out of his car. He told police that he believed killing the victim would either cause the police to stop chasing him or cause them to kill him.
Garcia was a “well-known and beloved member of his community,” according to the Monterey County District Attorney’s Office in a news release.
Judge Andrew Liu sentenced Ortiz on Sept. 25 after hearing from members of Garcia’s family.
Ortiz was also convicted of assault with a deadly weapon on a peace officer, evading a peace officer causing death, unlawfully driving a stolen vehicle and resisting an executive officer.
The case was investigated by the Greenfield and Soledad police departments.
