By Ted Asregadoo, PIO, Contra Costa District Attorney’s Office
Retired Pittsburg Police officer Chunliam Nai Saechao. Source: Pittsburg PD
The Contra Costa District Attorney’s Office has charged a Pleasant Hill resident with nine felony counts for attempted murder of peace officers, assault with a firearm, and injuring a spouse following the standoff last Friday and Saturday. (See related articles here and here)
40-year-old Chunliam Nai Saechao is being held without bail in the Martinez Detention Facility.
He will be arraigned on charges stemming from a December 8th incident whereby Mr. Saechao – a retired Pittsburg Police officer who may have suffered a mental health episode – barricaded himself in his home for almost three days after he shot at his wife while she was trying to gain entrance to their residence.
During the protracted standoff with police, Mr. Saechao shot at officers who were in the process of evacuating residents from nearby homes. Bullets also struck a police vehicle during the evacuation, which had two officers inside. The officers inside the vehicle did not sustain any injuries.
The complaint filed with the court today lists two counts of attempted murder of a peace officer [PC 187(a)], one count of injuring a spouse [PC 273.5(a)], and six counts of assault with a firearm on a peace officer or firefighter [PC 245(d)(1)]. The charges also come with enhancements for discharging or using a firearm in the offenses.
I WOULD SUE THE PD IF I WERE HIS WIFE… they only care about Mental Health crisis when it’s one of their own but who gives a damn about the wife who he shot with a shotgun and was hospitalized… and since when do they care about anyone having any sort of “mental health crisis” ?! They should have handled it like they handle any other person having a mental health crisis. ………. I guarantee you if it was a civilian in this predicament they’d be dead or at least shot multiple times