Crime & Safety
Santa Cruz Man Sentenced In 2017 Shooting Of Firefighter
Jacob Thomas Kirkendall will serve 14 years of felony probation with the first year in a locked mental health facility.
SANTA CRUZ COUNTY, CA — A 26-year-old Santa Cruz man, who suffered brain damage and was diagnosed with mental illness after being electrocuted in 2009, has been sentenced for shooting a firefighter in 2017. Jacob Thomas Kirkendall will serve 14 years of felony probation with the first year in a locked mental health facility, Monterey County District Attorney Jeannine M. Pacioni announced Monday.
On Dec. 11, 2017, Kirkendall recklessly drove his red truck around a U.S. Department of Forestry Ford Explorer driven by Division Fire Chief Peter Harris on Nacimiento-Fergusson Road, then stopped his truck blocking the road. Kirkendall then exited the truck and retrieved a shotgun,
according to prosecutors.
As Harris, who had just completed his shift working the Ventana fire near Big Sur, attempted to make a turnabout, Kirkendall fired the shotgun and "several pellets from the buckshot hit Harris in the back of his head, neck, shoulder and back and lodged under his skin," prosecutors said.
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Despite being injured, Harris completed the turn and drove in the opposite direction, warning approaching vehicles about Kirkendall, according to the release. Kirkendall then led Monterey County Sheriff's Office deputies, and California Highway Patrol officers on a high-speed chase that ended with his arrest at Fort Hunter-Liggett.
In 2009, when Kirkendall was 17, he accidentally electrocuted himself attempting to use water to put out an electrical fire caused by downed live power lines.
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"He spent nearly 100 days in a coma and suffered brain damage. Additionally, he suffers from diagnosed mental illness," according to prosecutors.
On Feb. 13, 2019, Kirkendall pled guilty to two strikes: assault with a firearm, with a personal use of a firearm enhancement - a violent strike; and assault with a deadly weapon. He also pled guilty to delaying or obstructing a police officer. Kirkendall's status in the locked facility will be subject to periodic review by sentencing Superior Court Judge Pamela Butler, with input from medical professionals at the facility and Monterey County Probation.
If he violates the terms and conditions of his probation, he could be sentenced to state prison for a term of up to fourteen years, eight months, according to the release.
By Bay City News