Vista : Suspect in Vista Robbery Is Slain by Deputy Sheriff

The driver of a stolen pickup truck was shot and killed Monday in Vista by a sheriff’s detective minutes after the truck was allegedly used in an armed robbery, a sheriff’s spokesman said.

Sheriff’s Lt. Bill Baxter identified the dead man as Frank Robert Sanchez, 21, of Vista. Baxter said Sanchez was shot in the head by Detective Perry Templeton, an eight-year veteran of the Sheriff’s Department, when Sanchez and two companions were stopped at 7:40 a.m. in an alley behind 528 N. Citrus Ave. by Templeton and his partner, Deputy Carmen Sanchez.

According to the sheriff’s version of the shooting, Frank Sanchez “suddenly accelerated” the truck backward toward Templeton after two other men in the truck had surrendered. The two men were identified as John Ortega, 36, and Manuel Contreras, 29, both of Vista. Ortega and Contreras, who were not injured, were arrested on suspicion of auto theft and booked at the County Jail at Vista.

A sheriff’s report of the incident said that the truck driven by Sanchez was reported stolen at 7 a.m. At 7:30 a.m. the Sheriff’s Department received a report of an armed robbery in the 900 block of Escondido Avenue. Ten minutes later Templeton and Martinez stopped a truck that matched the description of the stolen vehicle and the one reportedly used in the armed robbery. Baxter said the truck was stopped after Sanchez briefly tried to take “evasive movements.”

The two deputies ordered the three men out of the truck, Baxter said. Ortega and Contreras stepped out of the truck but Sanchez remained at the steering wheel and made “erratic movements,” Baxter said. According to Baxter, Sanchez began backing up toward Templeton.

Templeton fired one shot into the truck, said Baxter, hitting Sanchez in the head. Sanchez died at the scene. Despite a report that the truck driven by Sanchez was used in an armed robbery, no weapon was recovered. Baxter said “a small quantity of narcotics” was seized at the scene.

Sheriff’s deputies did not say if the narcotics belonged to the suspects. Sheriff’s deputies also did not say what was stolen in the armed robbery or whether the stolen items were recovered.