Man who escaped during a 40-hour standoff in Salinas faces a judge

The man at the center of a nearly 40-hour standoff in a Salinas neighborhood faced a judge in Santa Cruz Tuesday.

Agustin Leon-Palomares, 30, was wanted out of Santa Cruz County for a domestic violence case surrounding one victim. The charges are related to threats, auto theft, and vandalism.

Two weeks ago, Palomares managed to escape a home he was hiding in on Cherokee Drive in Salinas after U.S. Marshals tried to arrest him. Law enforcement eventually tracked him down at America’s Best Value Inn in Salinas a few days later.

Palomares was booked into the Monterey County Jail and then extradited to Santa Cruz County.

On Tuesday, the judge pushed back his arraignment to March 16 because his defense attorney said he needed more time to review the case.

“He is just a regular person who has been vilified to be made out to be a monster,” Defense Attorney Jose Angel Velasquez said. “40 officers in the reign and they couldn’t catch one person. That’s wrong.”

The assistant district attorney on the case said it was difficult for law enforcement to track him down because he allegedly committed multiple offenses in several different areas.

“There were reports to the Watsonville Police Department, the Salinas Police Department, the California Highway Patrol and the Sheriff’s Office in Santa Cruz,” Santa Cruz County Assistant District Attorney Sara Dabkowski said.”So they were having difficulty locating the defendant in this case because he was committing multiple offenses. They asked for help from federal agents at that point. They got the U.S. Marshals involved to help arrest Mr. Palomares and then they were ultimately able to arrest him at that time. I look forward to presenting the rest of that evidence in the court on this case. “

Palmores has already been convicted of two DUIs and four other infractions, according to his defense attorney.

A date for his preliminary hearing will be set at his arraignment on March 16th. His bail has been set at $120,000.