Carlsbad Slaying Suspect Is Arrested in Bakersfield

A Chula Vista man wanted in connection with a Carlsbad slaying and several other crimes in San Diego County was arrested by Bakersfield police, who shot him when he tried to elude them, authorities said.

Bakersfield Police Sgt. Sid Unruh said San Diego County detectives and prosecutors are expected in Bakersfield today to interview Ramon Antonio Estrella, 25, who has been held in the Kern County jail since Friday night.

Estrella is a suspect in the May 24 shooting death in Carlsbad of Rudy Gonzalez, 22, of Chula Vista. Gonzalez’s body, which had been set on fire, was discovered by a jogger in a light-industrial area in the 1900 block of Palomar Oaks Way, said Carlsbad Detective Don De Tar.

Estrella is being held in Bakersfield on the Carlsbad murder warrant but could also face kidnaping and auto theft charges stemming from a May 26 incident in National City in which he got away from police by commandeering a motorist’s van, De Tar said.

Estrella also escaped approaching officers after being spotted last Thursday night in Oxnard, he said.

Unruh said Bakersfield authorities were warned Friday by Oceanside police that Estrella was in Bakersfield after they traced a call he made that morning from a Bakersfield pay telephone.

De Tar, who went to Bakersfield Friday night to talk to Estrella, said Oceanside police are also investigating Estrella but declined to elaborate.

A Bakersfield police officer in an unmarked car spotted Estrella about 3:30 p.m. Friday in a car that had been reported stolen earlier last week in San Francisco, Unruh said.

He said Estrella apparently noticed he was being followed and speeded up, making several sharp turns at intersections and running two stop signs. After several blocks, he hit another car in an intersection and fled on foot.

Officers chased Estrella down an alley and fired three or four shots, grazing him once in the neck, Unruh said. He said Bakersfield authorities shot at Estrella because they had been warned that he was dangerous and were concerned he might take hostages.

Estrella was treated at a local hospital for a superficial wound and released to police, who held him.

Police said they found a loaded 9-millimeter handgun in Estrella’s car and a loaded magazine in his pocket.

Three weeks ago, Estrella eluded Chula Vista police after they received a tip and found him in the Plaza Bonita shopping mall parking lot in National City. Police said he got away by forcing his way at gunpoint into a man’s van.

That motorist was left unharmed with his van later that day at the Camino del Rio shopping center in Carlsbad.

Estrella is a parolee from state prison, where he served time for assault with a deadly weapon, De Tar said. That conviction stemmed from a shooting about four years ago in the Hayward area, at a time when Estrella was a Marine and was listed as AWOL from his Camp Pendleton unit, De Tar said.